Vice-Speaker Describes Iran’s Air Defense Shield as Real Iron Dome

TEHRAN  –Vice-Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabifardpraised Khatamol-Anbia Air Defense Base for its strong protection of the country’s airspace from possible enemy threats, and said Iran’s skies are the safest in the region for the passing flights.

“Today Iran’s Air Defense System has provided our country with an Iron Dome in its real sense and Iran’s airspace is the safest in the region,” Aboutorabifard told reporters on Monday.

He noted that Iran’s Air Defense has the highest deterrence power in the region.

Aboutorabifard recalled that a senior US Army official recently acknowledged Iran’s high defensive power by saying that Iran has harnessed the US military in the Middle East region.

He reiterated that Iran’s military power was the root cause of  Israel’s defeat in its 33-day war on Lebanon back in 2006.

last week, Iranian Ground Force Commander Lieutenant General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan underlined the country’s armed forces’ preparedness to confront any possible threats of the enemy.

On Wednesday, the Iranian Armed Forces wrapped up 7 days of military drills in waters South and Southeast of Iran.

Different units of the Iranian Army’s Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense started massive joint military drills along the country’s Southern and Southeastern coasts last Thursday.

The military exercises codenamed Mohammad Rasoulallah (PBUH) covered an area of 2.2 million square kilometers from the East of the Strait of Hormuz to the Southern parts of the Gulf of Aden.

 Commander warns NATO planes to avoid approaching Iranian airspace

Meanwhile, Commander of Khatamol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General FarzadEsmayeeli said NATO aircraft are not allowed to use Iran’s airspace.

“We have announced through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that certain airplanes, including NATO and military airplanes, are not allowed to pass through the Islamic Republic of Iran’s airspace,” Esmayeeli said on Monday.

He also pointed to a recent ISAF aircraft which was made to land for a few hours in Southern Iran in early September to receive transit permissions, and said, “The (ISAF) plane wanted to pass through Iran’s airspace on September 5 to take those aboard to an exhibition (in the United Arab Emirates”).

General Esmayeeli noted that the ISAF airplane was forced by Iranian fighter jets to land in the Southern Bandar Abbas pot city.

The airplane was hired by the UAE Fly Dubai Company to carry Canadian and American military personnel (ISAF personnel) en route from Afghanistan’s Bagram Base to Dubai before it was forced by the Iranian Air Defense to land at Bandar Abbas airport in early September for a lack of flight plan and lack of coordination for using Iranian sky.

In November, General Esmayeeli warned that the country would target any enemy aircraft entering its airspace.

“We will give a tough and decisive confrontation to any kind of threat,” General Esmayeeli told FNA on the sidelines of the annual military parades in Tehran.

“Any aircraft which enters our country’s sky without a flight plan will receive a warning and if it defies our warnings, we will force it to land,” he added.

FNA

R.S