TEHRAN — Defense Minister Amir Hatami has said Iran’s defensive missile program is “a thorn in the eyes of the enemies”, with Iran strengthening its missile power day by day.

“But [our] martyrdom culture is [Iran’s] number one progress, and a nation that has a culture of martyrdom cannot be dominated,” Brigadier General Hatami said in remarks on Tuesday.

He also said the budget of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research has witnessed a 256 percent increase.

In the aftermath of the assassination of top Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said that two important issues should be put on the agenda by all those involved, Hatami stated.

“First, the following up of this crime and the definitive punishment of its perpetrators, and second, the pursuit of the martyr’s scientific and technical efforts,” added the general. 

Fakhrizadeh, a prominent scientist, was assassinated on November 27 at 14:30, when his convoy came under attack on a highway in the small city of Absard in Damavand County, about 40 kilometers east of the capital Tehran. 

Iranian officials were quick to point the finger at Israel, which has carried out many assassination operations against Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on the day of the assassination that the attack was carried out with “serious indications of Israeli role.” Since then, several Iranian officials have vowed to take revenge against Israel.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hatami said the enemy’s aim was to disrupt to process of scientific movement and the speed of progress of the Islamic Republic in the field of new technologies.

“The enemy was well aware of our significant progress in emerging and innovative areas, therefore, with this action, it tried to weaken the morale of the people and undercut Iran’s security and power,” he pointed out.

He added that since Fakhrizadeh’s assassination, all of the employees and managers of the Defense Ministry have became determined to continue the martyr’s path.

In remarks two weeks ago, Hatami warned that Fakhrizadeh’s assassination will not go unanswered.

“We will pursue the perpetrators till the end and we will follow the order of the Commander-in-Chief (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei),” he said

The defense minister warned the countries that sponsor terrorism that the Islamic Republic has always dealt with terrorists “as we did in the region in Syria and Iraq, along with the governments and nations and the armed forces of those countries.”

MH/PA