The official IRNA news agency says Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi and Navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari attended Sunday’s ceremony marking the delivery of the vessels to the Iranian Navy.

Iran has sought to upgrade its air defense systems and naval power, saying any possible future attacks against Iran will be air and sea-based.

The navy already owns seven submarines of this type which weigh 120 tons and were first launched in 2007.

Iran has described the Ghadir as stealth submarines, hardly detectable by sonar and aimed at coastal operations in shallow waters, notably in the Gulf.

The vessel is based on North Korean models of the Yono class and can shoot torpedoes, but their main tasks appear to be moving commandos, laying mines and reconnaissance missions, experts say.

Iran’s inventory of submarines patrolling Gulf waters also includes up to three Russian-built Kilo class diesel submarines bought in 1990s and a Nahang, an Iranian-built light sub weighing 500 tons that was first launched in 2006.

In 2008 Iran started building a new submarine named Qaem which is due to be launched within days, Iran’s army chief Ataollah Salehi said last week, describing it as “semi-heavy” and capable of operating in the high seas such as the Indian Ocean or the Gulf of Aden.

Little information has been released about this home-produced vessel, which is said to be capable of firing missiles and torpedoes.


President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Lebanon after the fasting month of Ramadan, a top official said on Sunday, as Tehran pledged its support to Beirut and Damascus in face of any “aggression” from Israel.

“The president will go to Lebanon at the first occasion after Ramadan,” Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said at a joint news conference with his visiting Lebanese counterpart Ali Al-Shami. The holy month is expected to begin on Thursday in Iran, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Mottaki also pledged Iran’s support to Lebanon and Syria against any threats from Israel.

“The government of the Islamic republic and the Iranian nation are standing with the Lebanese and Syrian governments and nations against the aggression and threats of the Zionist regime,” Mottaki said.

He said Iran was holding continuous consultations with Beirut and Damascus and Tehran is “ready to answer positively any request from its brothers.”

Mottaki and Shami lashed out at Israel as they condemned the Jewish state for the recent clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border and the May 31 raid by its commandos on an aid flotilla heading to the blockaded territory of Gaza. “The survival of the Zionist regime is facing serious problem,” Mottaki said in comments translated by the English language Press TV channel.