Iran unveils new fighter jet

Tehran, August 21 

Iran unveiled its first domestic fighter jet today, with President Hassan Rouhani insisting that Tehran’s military strength was only designed to deter enemies and create “lasting peace”.

Images on state television showed Rouhani sitting in the cockpit of the new “Kowsar” fourth-generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition in Tehran. State media said it had “advanced avionics” and multi-purpose radar, and that it was “100-per cent indigenously made” for the first time.

Footage of the Kowsar’s test flights was circulated by various official media. But live footage of the plane taxiing along a runway at the defence show was cut before it could take off. “When I speak of our readiness to defend, it means we seek lasting peace. If we lack readiness, we welcome war,” Rouhani said in a televised speech shortly after.

The plane was first publicly announced on Saturday by Defence Minister Amir Hatami, who had said it would be unveiled on Wednesday. Hatami said the defence programme was motivated by memories of the missile attacks Iran suffered during its eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, and by repeated threats from Israel and the US that “all options are on the table” in dealing with the Islamic republic.

Rouhani said Iran must show restraint as well as deterrence, in an apparent swipe at his hardline opponents who seek to provoke the US with aggressive slogans. — AFP

Home-made jet is named after a chapter in Quran

• The aircraft, called Kowsar, is capable of carrying various weapons and will be used for short aerial-support missions, according to state news agency Tasnim
• Kowsar refers to a river in paradise and is the title of a chapter in the Quran. The unveiling came a day before country’s national defence industry day