"They expect Iran to limit its missile program while they continue posing military threats against Iran, and hence, such an expectation is foolish and silly," Ayatollah Khamenei said during a tour of the exhibition of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force on Sunday.
The Supreme Leader reiterated that the irrational statements of the western countries in their talks with Iran indicate their complete failure vis-à-vis the Iranian nation.
"The IRGC Aerospace Force should precisely advance its works and plans and should not be satisfied with its status quo," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Supreme Leader underlined that the IRGC Aerospace Force should mass produce its products, and said, "This issue is a duty and all military officials should channel their efforts onto this path and government officials should also view this as among their main duties."
Before his remarks today, the Supreme Leader went on a two-hour tour of the IRGC Aerospace Force's exhibition, where state-of-the-art equipment and hardware were showcased.
The advanced radar-evading US RQ-170 drone downed by the IRGC more than two years ago and its indigenized model developed by Iranian experts through reverse engineering were among the most important items on display in the exhibition.
Ayatollah Khamenei also visited the IRGC's surface-to-surface missiles, including Zalzal, Persian Gulf, Hormuz 1, Hormuz 2, Fajr 5, Ra'ad 301 and solid-fuel, long-range Sejjil.
The Third of Khordad air defense system which has been completely designed and manufactured by Iranian experts was unveiled in the presence of the Iranian Supreme Leader. The Third of Khordad air defense system has been manufactured in 18 months. It has a range of 50 kilometers and it can concurrently trace four targets and simultaneously fire eight missiles.
Other achievements of the IRGC Aerospace Force were Tabas air defense system, a command-and-control center, different Ra'ad 1 and Ra'ad 2 air defense systems, different radars, including Bashir and Kavosh, and and electronic warfare command-and-control center were also displayed in the exhibition.
The Iranian Supreme Leader praised the IRGC Aerospace Force commanders and personnel for their achievements, and said, "This exhibition gives the message of power and inner capability to our officials announcing that 'we can'."
In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in developing and manufacturing its essential needs to military tools, weapons, equipment and systems.
Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.
Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.