Iranian officials say they have deployed a new Russian-made long-range missile system to protect its Fordo nuclear facility, according to Radio Liberty.
General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran`s air defenses, told the state IRIB channel on August 28 that protecting the country`s nuclear facilities is paramount ”in all circumstances,” RFE/RL reports.
He added that ”today, Iran`s sky is one of the most secure in the region.”
A video on state television showed an S-300 carrier truck in Fordo, raising its missile launchers toward the sky, among other weaponry.
The video was broadcast only hours after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a speech to air force commanders, including Esmaili, in which he said the country`s military power was solely for defensive purposes.
”The S-300 system is a defense system not an assault one, but the Americans did their best for Iran not to get hold of it,” Khamenei said.
Fordo was built into a mountain near the central city of Qom.
It was to have stopped enriching uranium since the January implementation of a historic nuclear deal with six world powers that curbed Iran`s controversial nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
