In an interview with Tasnim, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said construction of the heavy destroyer has been put on the agenda under a project dubbed “Negin” (gemstone).

The weight of the destroyer is expected to be between 5,000 and 7,000 tons, he said, adding that the warship will be used in long-running naval missions without any limitation.

The heaviest destroyers currently in service in the Iranian Navy’s fleet are of the ‘Mowj-class’ which weigh around 1,300 tons.

In December 2018, the homegrown Sahand destroyer and Qadeer submarine joined the Navy’s fleet.

Sahand weighs 1,300 tons, is 96 meters in length, and can cruise at a speed of 25 knots. The destroyer is also equipped with various surface, subsurface and aerial weapons, and carries out radar jamming and deception operations.

Sahand is a stealth destroyer furnished with anti-submarine systems, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, point-defense weapon system, and anti-aircraft guns.

In a meeting with Navy commanders last year, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei praised as “great and fabulous” the advances that Iranian military forces, the Navy in particular, have made since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, saying the Navy’s success in bringing into service homegrown vessels such as the Sahand destroyer or Fateh and Qadeer submarines heralds more progress day after day.