www.forumdaily.com

General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran's air defenses, told the state IRIB channel on August 28 that protecting the country's nuclear facilities is paramount "in all circumstances," RFE/RL reports.

He added that "today, Iran's sky is one of the most secure in the region."

A video on state television showed an S-300 carrier truck in Fordo, raising its missile launchers toward the sky, among other weaponry.

Видео дня

The video was broadcast only hours after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a speech to air force commanders, including Esmaili, in which he said the country's military power was solely for defensive purposes.

Read alsoRussia 'showed-off' over use of Iran airbase for Syria strikes – BBC"The S-300 system is a defense system not an assault one, but the Americans did their best for Iran not to get hold of it," Khamenei said.

Fordo was built into a mountain near the central city of Qom.

It was to have stopped enriching uranium since the January implementation of a historic nuclear deal with six world powers that curbed Iran's controversial nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.