MNA � Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami pointed to the high potential of military cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation.

Hatami pointed to a contract between the two countries on military-technical cooperation, noting that �it has provided great capacities for bilateral cooperation with one of them being the arms purchase and we are after activating all aspects of the agreement.�

Hatami is in Moscow upon the invitation of his Russian counterpart to visit the ARMY-2020 exhibition and hold talks with Russian military officials.

Speaking to Sputnik, the minister noted that the military cooperation between Iran and Russia is based on mutual trust and in the framework of regional and international peace and stability.

�The arms that we produce are all conventional, however, not all of them will be put on the country�s export basket; our products have had their markets in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America and with the lifting of limitation, these markets will be expanded,� he said.

Hatami said that Iran�s defense programs have been designed in a way to boost �deterrence�. When the US was repeatedly using �all options on the table� with regards to Iran and the Israeli regime threatening the country from the other hand, Iran saw it as a must to be equipped with a tool for responding to any aggression, he said.

�Our missile program has been designed and guided on this basis,� noted the Brigadier General while also referring to Iran�s firm response to a number of aggression against Iran in recent years, including the downing of the US intruding drone, and launching missiles on Ain Asad base in retaliation of Marty Soleimani assassination.