The Iranian defense minister nominee says sanctions against Iran for almost half a century have failed to prevent the Islamic Republic from producing defense equipment and upgrading them to counter the enemy.

Mehrdad Akhlaghi made the remarks on Monday during a parliamentary session, where he outlined 16 priorities for Iran’s Defense Ministry, including rebuilding industrial production infrastructure, reinforcing air defenses, and integrating emerging technologies into defense systems.

“Iran has been under sanctions for 47 years, but have those bans managed to break the resilience of the Iranian nation? Despite the sanctions, we have continued to manufacture equipment and provide missile support, and we have faced no major difficulties in carrying out our armed forces’ duties,” he said.

“We have pursued every possible means and strategy to ensure that our armed forces have the equipment they need to counter the enemy, and we will continue to do so.”

Akhlaghi also said Iran has been monitoring various methods used by the enemy to strengthen its fighting capabilities while upgrading the country’s defense equipment to keep pace with the adversary’s new tactics.

The Iranian Defense Ministry, he said, will remain proactive in the fields of research and innovation, drawing on the capabilities of universities and knowledge-based companies.

“If we want to develop weapons and technologies, we need to pursue a path that boosts our resilience against the enemy.”

‘Massive stockpile’: Iran Army announces accelerated production of advanced missiles, drones

General Akraminia confirmed that the domestic production of cutting-edge military hardware never ceased during the 40-day imposed war.

The United States and Israel launched their illegal war of aggression against Iran on February 28 by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders.

Forty days later, on April 8, the enemies were forced to accept a ceasefire amid Iran’s resistance and successful retaliatory operations.

In July, the US conducted waves of deadly air raids on Iran and imposed a naval blockade of the country in violation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Republic, signed on June 17, to end the war.

In response, the Iranian armed forces launched decisive strikes against strategic American targets across West Asia and declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all traffic.