Iran has launched
its first domestically-built mini-submarine in the Gulf port of
Bandar Abbas.
The Iranian
state news agency, IRNA, said the Al-Sabehat-15 submarine was
designed to plant mines and carry out reconnaissance missions.
It can
accommodate a two-man crew and up to three divers.
Correspondents
say Iran has been working towards self-sufficiency in weapons
manufacture ever since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.
IRNA quoted
the Iranian Defence Minister, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, as saying
that the submarine was designed for the shallow waters of the
Gulf.
US embargo
The admiral
went on to tell those present at the launching ceremony that Iran
hoped to sell it to other countries.
Iran bought
its weaponry from the United States until the 1979 Islamic revolution,
but Washington subsequently imposed an embargo on further sales,
which severely handicapped the Iranian armed forces during the
war with Iraq.
As well as
buying what supplies and equipment it could on the blackmarket,
Iran launched a self-sufficiency drive which has so far enabled
it to produced light machine guns, missiles, armoured personnel
carriers and tanks.
The submarine
is thought to be among the most sophisticated pieces of military
equipment it has developed.
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