Iran on Monday announced that it had launched its "Paykan" missile boat in the waters of the Caspian Sea "to protect the interests of the Iranian nation", IRNA reported from Tehran on Monday quoting the local press.

The Persian-language newspaper 'Jomhouri-ye Eslami' quoted the Navy Commander Rear Admiral Abbas Mohtaj as saying in a flag-hoisting ceremony that Iran had built the Paykan in memory of a boat with the same name that drowned in Morvarid Battle with Iraq in the Persian Gulf, 1980.

"The Paykan is now protecting the resources and the interests of the Iranian nation in the northern waters of the territories of the Islamic Republic," Mohtaj said.

He further stressed that the floating of the boat was the beginning of a movement for Iran toward "an honorable end", adding that this [movement] would make the future generations "more innovative".

Jomhouri-ye Eslami wrote that the Paykan carries the standards of Paykan-class boats with the same operation abilities and battle facilities. It also stressed that the boat is completely indigenous and has cost "millions of dollars".

The daily further stressed that the Paykan is capable to carry out operations anywhere in the world.