The Iranian government on Saturday revealed that it built its first combat-ready stealth fighter jet which is capable of evading U.S. and NATO radar systems.
Qaher F-313 is the latest design produced by Iran's military since it launched the Azarakhsh (Lightning) fighter jet six years ago, according to an Israeli counterterrorism and intelligence source.
President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad told Iran's state-controlled news agency that it has "almost all the positive features" of the world's most sophisticated jet fighters including the U.S. Air Force's F-16.
He told reporters that the "development of the Iranian nation's military power is for defensive purposes only."
Iranian officials this week also claimed to have successfully sent a monkey into space in a Pishgam rocket, which reached an altitude of about 75 miles for a sub-orbital flight.
Officials from the U.S. and European Union governments immediately expressed their concern about Iran's space program being used as prototypes for long-range ballistic missiles would be utilized for the transport of nuclear warheads.
Iran continues to deny its programs to create nuclear weapons and continues to claim its atomic program is for peaceful use.
In 2010, Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first Iranian built unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -- or drone. The Iranian drone is being classified as a bomber capable of carrying heavy-load ordinance. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the new bomber "the messenger of death."
Iranian state TV showed the "Karrar" aircraft in flight and claimed it could carry either one bomb weighing 500 pounds or two 250-pound bombs
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