Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said on Monday that Fateh Submarine has been designed and manufactured by Iranian experts and will be unveiled by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (ending March 20, 2014).

He added that the new submarine will once more prove the Iranian Navy’s capability to manufacture, equip and utilize its own fleet of submarines.

“We will continue the path [in view] of meeting our [maritime] needs in a bid to have a strong presence in international waters and build surface and subsurface equipment,” Sayyari stated.

In recent years, Iran Navy has been increasing its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

The Iranian Navy recently dispatched two warships, the Joshan (Shield) and the Peykan (Arrow), to the Russian port city of Astrakhan to convey the message of peace and friendship from the Iranian nation to Russia and other littoral states of the Caspian Sea.

It was the first time that Iranian Navy vessels have been dispatched to Russia to consolidate maritime relations between Tehran and Moscow and promote peace and friendship among all the five nations on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly asserted that its overseas naval presence is meant to convey a message of peace and friendship to regional countries.