Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh on Wednesday arrived in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers' Meeting, according to Yuyuantantian, a media outlet under China Media Group (CMG).
Defense leaders of SCO member countries as well as senior officials of SCO Secretariat and Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure are attending the two-day event from Wednesday and Thursday.
Following the Astana summit in July 2024, China assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024-2025 and will host the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in north China's Tianjin Municipality this autumn.
The SCO, established in 2001, is the first international organization with China as a founding member state and named after a Chinese city.
Iranian defense minister arrives in Qingdao for SCO meeting
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend more than 10 billion dollars to purchase air defense and interceptor missiles, and several billion dollars more to purchase various other types of missiles, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.
According to the report, documents drafted by the U.S. Department of Defense and submitted to the defense committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives indicate that these funds will be used to procure 5.75 billion dollars’ worth of THAAD interceptor missiles and 5.57 billion dollars’ worth of Patriot missile segment enhancements. The procurement list also includes 1.9 billion dollars’ worth of Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) and 1.3 billion dollars' worth of Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as 692 million dollars for the procurement of precision-strike missiles, which was used for the first time in the war with Iran.
The report said that as U.S. forces struck Iran and intercepted its drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases in the Middle East, concerns are rising about the weapons stockpiles. U.S. lawmakers, defense officials, and analysts have stated that the current US weapons stockpiles are at dangerously low levels.
CBS News, citing U.S. military and intelligence officials, reported earlier this month that the rapid depletion of U.S. air defense interceptors and precision-guided weapons during the U.S.-Iran conflict had raised concerns within the U.S. government.
Pentagon plans to spend over 10 bln dollars on missile purchase
