TEHRAN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian defense official said Wednesday that the country is producing a new generation of Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) jet fighters, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

    Majid Hedayat, the General Manager of Iran's Aviation Industry Organization in the Defence Ministry, made the disclose in a speech on the sidelines of Kish Aviation Industry Exhibition in the country.

    "The new generation of Saeqeh fighters enjoys more facilities and capabilities and also are domestically constructed," Hedayat was quoted as saying.

    "Other new military planes have also been constructed which will be employed for the naval patrolling purposes," he added.

    In Sptember last year, Iranian Air Force successfully tested the first generation of locally-built Saeqeh fighter which was climed to be adapted from reversed-engineered, modified (twin-tail) American F-5 platforms.

    Aiming at enhancing the defence capabilities, the country's Armed Forces on Monday inaugurated a new naval base in the strategic port of Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

    The United States and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, consistently refusing to rule out a possibility of military strikes against Iran.

    Iran has denied the U.S. charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.