Amir Hatami

September 25, 2019, 6:53 pm

Iran’s defense minister rejects any deal on missile program

Hatami says any arrangement with the US would damage his country’s capabilities; Guards chief says Tehran showing ‘restraint’ but will respond to ‘troublemakers’

By AP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, third right, and US Ambassador David Friedman, third left, aboard the US Navy's guided-missile destroyer USS Ross, docked at Ashdod Port on October 11, 2018. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool/Flash90)

August 8, 2019, 4:26 pm

Iran says Israeli involvement in Gulf naval mission would be ‘disastrous’

Defense chief slams Israel’s willingness to assist US-led efforts as ‘highly provocative’; IRGC chief warns Hamas and Hezbollah will cause Jewish state’s ‘collapse’ in next war

By AFP and TOI staff

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami speaks at the Conference on International Security in Moscow, Russia, April 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

August 6, 2019, 1:21 pm

Iran unveils three new precision-guided missiles

Defense Minister Hatami says weapons meant to counter ‘viciousness and conspiracies of the Great Satan America and its mercenaries’

By AFP

Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, head of the Iranian Army. (Screen capture)

July 8, 2019, 10:27 am

Iran not looking for war, says commander of country’s armed forces

Defense minister calls Britain’s seizing of oil tanker off Gibraltar ‘piracy,’ contrary to international regulations and nuclear deal commitments

By TOI staff and Agencies

June 19, 2019, 2:35 pm

Iran ‘categorically rejects’ US tanker attack allegations

Tehran dismisses ‘unsubstantiated’ video evidence provided by Washington that allegedly shows Iranians removing unexploded mine

By AFP

This photo released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, June 9, 2019, shows the Khordad 15, a new surface-to-air missile battery at an undisclosed location in Iran. The system uses locally made missiles that resemble the HAWK missiles that the US once sold to the shah and later delivered to the Islamic Republic in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

June 9, 2019, 6:53 pm

Iran unveils new advanced missile defense system it says can destroy enemy jets

Islamic Republic’s defense minister says the Khordad 15 can trace targets 150 km away, intercept them at a range of 120 km and can destroy six objects at once

By TOI staff

Illustrative: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to journalists during a visit to inspect a naval Iron Dome defense system in the northern port of Haifa on February 12, 2019. (Jack Guez/Pool/AFP)

May 15, 2019, 9:19 pm

PM said to tell his defense chiefs to keep Israel out of Iran-US tensions

Netanyahu convenes security heads to discuss potential escalation, speaks to Pompeo, TV report says; assessment is reportedly that Israel unlikely to be targeted

By TOI staff

May 15, 2019, 4:59 pm

Iran’s defense minister: ‘We will defeat the American-Zionist front’

Amid rising tensions, Amir Hatami tells Iranian military intelligence officials the country is at highest level of war preparedness, despite sanctions

By TOI staff

Israeli Navy boats take part in an exercise in northern Israel simulating a war with the Hezbollah terrorist group in September 2017. (Israel Defense Forces)

March 13, 2019, 10:16 am

Iran warns Israel of ‘crushing response’ to any naval intervention

After Netanyahu alleges maritime oil smuggling, Tehran defense minister vows to respond with force to any attempt to curtail exports

By TOI staff

Iran's newly launched Ghadir submarines move in the southern port of Bandar Abbas in Persian Gulf, Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012. Ghadir class submarines can fire missiles and torpedoes at the same time, and can operate in the Persian Gulf's shallow waters. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Ebrahim Norouzi)

February 17, 2019, 5:31 am

Iran to unveil submarine equipped with guided cruise missile system

Fateh vessel, outfitted with what Iran says is advanced equipment, reportedly to be inaugurated by president on Sunday

By TOI staff

Iran says it successfully tested the Hoveizeh cruise missile on February 2, 2019 (Screen grab via Tasnim)

February 2, 2019, 10:26 am

Iran says new cruise missile successfully fired on revolution’s 40th anniversary

Video shows test of ‘Hoveyzeh,’ allegedly a high-precision weapon capable of carrying a large payload for up to 1,200 kilometers

By TOI staff

This picture, released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on July 27, 2017, claims to show the Simorgh satellite-carrying rocket at Imam Khomeini National Space Center, Iran. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

January 23, 2019, 3:10 pm

Iran’s defense minister says another satellite launch coming ‘soon’

Comments come after failed attempt last week, and amid Western fears Tehran is using program to further its ballistic missile capability

By TOI staff and Agencies

Iran's Kowsar fighter jet. (Twitter screen capture)

November 3, 2018, 11:38 am

Iran inaugurates production line of local fighter jets ahead of US sanctions

Defense minister says domestically made Kowsar aircraft symbolizes Islamic Republic’s battle against ‘global ‘arrogance’ led by the US

By TOI staff

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seen during a meeting between the Iranian president and the North Korean foreign minister in Tehran, Iran, on August 8, 2018. (AFP/Atta Kenare)

September 3, 2018, 10:58 am

Iran’s Zarif arrives in Damascus for talks with Syrian leadership

Foreign minister expected to meet with Assad as well as Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem, as regime prepares for Idlib offensive

By TOI staff and Agencies

August 28, 2018, 10:48 pm

Iran says its military advisers to remain in Syria

Continued presence of Tehran ‘advisers’ part of agreement defense agreement signed this week, despite efforts to push Iranian forces out of country

By AFP