Western sanctions have not affected Iran’s deterrence capability:Iranian defense minister

TEHRAN,Oct.29(MNA) – Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that the Western sanctions have failed to affect Iran’s defensive and deterrence capabilities. “Unfair sanctions imposed by Western countries, led by the United States, on the Islamic Republic of Iran have helped advance science and technology in the country through (improving) self-reliance,” Vahidi said on the sidelines of a conference on passive defense in Tehran on Sunday. In his speech at the conference, Vahidi also said that the country is currently in a state of economic war. “Comprehensive economic sanctions against Iran are meant to force our nation to surrender. But the winner is not the one that fires the first shot. The winner is the one that survives the last shot,” he commented. “It is not the fact that the enemy has won a victory because it has imposed sanctions. We will emerge victorious if we can form the last link in the chain of resistance through (creating) a resistance economy,” he added. On July 25, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that the creation of a “resistance economy” is the best way to deal with the economic pressure being exerted on the country. “Involving the people in economic activities through the implementation of the general policies of Article 44, empowering the private sector, reducing dependence on oil, managing consumption, using time, sources, and facilities as efficiently as possible, acting according to a plan, and refraining from making sudden changes to laws and policies are principles of a resistance economy,” he stated. The Article 44 of the Constitution calls for privatization of state-owned companies. Elsewhere in his remarks, Vahidi said that the armed forces should always be prepared to deal with the enemy’s military threats. “The assumption that we think that there will be no war is a false assumption,” he said.