Iran reportedly poised for weapons shopping spree after UN ban is lifted
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Iran is poised to go on a major military shopping spree in 2020, after a United Nations ban prohibiting the country from purchasing sophisticated weapons is lifted.
Bloomberg, citing a report from the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, reported that Iran will be shopping for surface warships, submarines and anti-ship missiles.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tehran will be able to make purchases “that have been inaccessible since sanctions were imposed,” the report said.'
The lifting of the ban was part of the landmark nuclear agreement Tehran reached with the U.S. and world powers in July 2015. The new report could influence Congress to place new sanctions Iran for its state-sponsored terrorism efforts and its ballistic-missile tests.
The Navy report said Iran’s defensive strategy focuses on “ballistic missiles, naval forces and proxies in the region,” according to Bloomberg. The report adds that “each of these potentially provides the means to target Iran’s regional neighbors, or military forces bases or operating in the region.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The assessment reportedly goes on to say Iran will likely continue to deploy weapons its engineers copied from other designs, including “high-speed torpedo” and “potentially supersonic” anti-ship cruise missiles.