Iran has built about 30 percent of a missile defence system it is developing in place of the Russian S-300 system Moscow refused to sell it, and hopes to complete the system by next year, a senior military official said on Monday. Farzad Esmaili, commander of the army's air defence force, also reiterated that Iran will hold a large-scale air defence exercise in the next two months covering the whole country, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.
Iran, under mounting pressure from Israel and Western powers over its controversial nuclear programme, has unveiled upgrades to weapons systems and held several military exercises this year to demonstrate its ability to defend itself. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged world powers on Sunday to make clear to Tehran that they would not let it obtain nuclear arms. Israeli rhetoric has stoked speculation that Israel might attack Iran's nuclear sites, some buried deep underground, before the US presidential election in November.
Western powers suspect Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability and have imposed several rounds of sanctions on it, but Tehran says its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes and refuses to suspend it. ISNA quoted Esmaili on Monday as saying Iran would test its air defence systems in mid-to-late October or early November.
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