TEHRAN HAS claimed that its missile industry is now entirely self-sufficient.
Iranian Defence Minister, Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, told the government-controlled FARS news agency that Iran was capable of indigenously producing various types of surface-to-surface (SSM) and surface-to-air missiles (SAM).
"Iran is increasing its defense capabilities and reaching self-sufficiency in (manufacturing) different kinds of military equipments. Promotion of Iran's defensive power will lead to stability in the region," said Najar.
 The Defence Minister also emphasised that all military equipment required by the Iranian armed forces was manufactured in the Islamic Republic, which had officially ended its dependence on 'foreign' imports.
Najjar explained that Iranian defence industries currently mass produced a wide-range of weapons, including tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery units.
However, it should be noted that Tehran frequently reports indigenous missile production progress in an effort to increase its deterrence capabilities.
According to US-based think tank GlobalSecurity, Iran remains reliant on limited North Korean missile production capacity.
"North Korea's perilous economic condition and the consequent possibility that it would have to moderate its 'rogue state' character in order to survive, could leave Iran without an adequate and reliable supplier of missiles in a war," said the organization's website.
Steven A. Hildreth, a specialist in missile defense and non-proliferation, expressed similiar sentiments.
"There is little disagreement among most experts that Iran has acquired some number of ballistic missiles from other countries and has developed other ballistic missiles indigenously or in cooperation with others."
A Pentagon spokesperson recently confirmed that Iran was "not testing new technologies or capabilities, but rather firing off old equipment in an attempt to intimidate their neighbors and escalate tension in the region".
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