TEHRAN ( WNAM MONITORING): The Iranian government has awarded contracts worth $40 million to the country’s military for manufacturing more than a dozen vessels needed in operations at the ports.
The contracts were awarded on Tuesday during a ceremony attended by Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh and senior military commanders.
Sadegh said the awarding of the contracts signaled a message to the world that Iran’s military forces were ready to sacrifice their resources for the welfare of the country despite foreign sanctions that have put them under pressure, according to Press TV.
Companies linked to the Iranian army, the defense ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) will build 26 vessels for use in fire-fighting, towing and docking and undocking operations at Iranian ports, according to reports published in the local media.
CEO of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Ali Akbar Safaei said in the ceremony that the IRGC has contributed actively to PMO’s development plans in recent years, adding that the force will supply 32 new vessels and other equipment to Iranian ports authorities in early February as part of contracts signed in the past.
IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said that Iran has a long history of shipbuilding that dates back to the Achaemenid era.
Tangsiri said that the IRGC boasts of its shipbuilding records and seeks to expand the manufacturing of various vessels to create more jobs and to help the government cut back on its hard currency spending for imports of ships and vessels.
Commander of the Iranian Navy Rear Admiral Shahram Irani said in the ceremony that defense industries in the country are capable of manufacturing the most complicated marine equipment.
Irani added that the contracts signed with the transportation ministry were a major step toward tapping the potential of Iran’s maritime economy.
