TEHRAN: Iran unveiled its first domestic fighter jet on Tuesday, with President Hassan Rouhani insisting that Tehran’s military strength was only designed to deter enemies and create “lasting peace”.

Images on state television showed Rouhani sitting in the cockpit of the new “Kowsar” fourth-generation fighter at the National Defence Industry exhibition in Tehran.

State media said it had “advanced avionics” and multi-purpose radar, and that it was “100-percent indigenously made” for the first time.

Footage of the Kowsar’s test flights was circulated by various official media.

But live footage of the plane taxiing along a runway at the defence show was cut before it could take off. “When I speak of our readiness to defend, it means we seek lasting peace. If we lack readiness, we welcome war,” Rouhani said in a televised speech shortly after.

“Some think when we increase our military power, this means we seek war. (But) this is peace-seeking because we don’t want war to happen,” he added.

“If we don’t have a deterrent... it gives a green light for others to enter this country.” The plane was first publicly announced on Saturday by Defence Minister Amir Hatami, who had said it would be unveiled on Wednesday.

He gave few details of the project, focusing instead on Iran’s efforts to upgrade its missile defences. Rouhani said Iran must show restraint as well as deterrence, in an apparent swipe at his hardline opponents who seek to provoke the US with aggressive slogans.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2018