by WorldTribune Staff, December 28, 2016
Iran is looking to construct an aircraft carrier and heavy submarines as it upgrades its naval capabilities, a senior Iranian official said.
“Building an aircraft carrier is also among the goals pursued by the navy and we hope to attain this objective,” Deputy Navy Commander for Coordination Adm. Peiman Jafari Tehrani was quoted as saying by Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
The United States leads the pack globally in aircraft carriers with 11. China, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Russia, Spain and Thailand are the only other sovereign navies with aircraft carriers currently in service.
Tehrani’s comments follow Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s announcement earlier this month that he has ordered the country’s scientists to start work on nuclear-powered ships, in what was seen as a response to the renewal of sanctions on Iran by the U.S. Congress.
Iranian Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari told Fars in 2014 that “as we have managed to produce warships and submarines, we also have the capability to build aircraft carriers and heavy submarines.”
Tehrani also said the Iranian defense ministry and navy are “producing different types of missiles indigenously.”
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