The Iranian army is getting equipped with domestically-built jet fighters and is planning a war game during the holy month of Ramadan, a top military official said.

Iran “has made great achievements in manufacturing anti-aircraft missiles and various jet fighters over the past two years,” the commander-in-chief of the army, Ataollah Salehi, was quoted by Iran’s state-run Press TV as saying yesterday.

The Persian Gulf country will be endowed with the jet fighters “within a few months,” Mr. Salehi said, according to a report on the Web site of the satellite news channel.

Iran is to hold a military maneuver, entitled Modafeane Aseman or Defenders of the Sky, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Salehi added. Ramadan in Iran started yesterday.

Iran is meanwhile pushing ahead with a nuclear program, which America and its allies accuse of being aimed at building atomic weapons.

While the Bush administration says it favors the diplomacy route for a conflict resolution it has never ruled out military action to abort Iran’s nuclear progress. Threats of attacks have prompted Iran to stage a show of force, announcing improvements to its arsenal and increasing weapons tests in recent months.

Iran’s army had earlier announced that it was working to improve the capability of its jet fighters to allow them to fly 3,000 kilometers without needing to re-fuel, Press TV said.