Iran Military Stats
Author: Edsel.G
The Iranian Armed Forces is considered by many observers to be one of the strongest armed forces in the Middle East. Long-standing conflicts with other Arab states and its hatred towards Israel have led to the creation of the powerful Iranian military.
It is noteworthy that Iran has had favorable relations with the US in the past. In fact, the US had once supplied the country with weapons in the clandestine operation known as Iran Contra Affair. However, following the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the installation of a theocratic regime, relations soured and the US, along with its Western allies, started imposing economic and military sanctions on the country.
Still, despite the limited opportunities to acquire foreign military equipments, Iran managed to establish a powerful military through several means:
Purchasing weapons from countries such as North Korea and China;
Creating their own indigenous weapons using existing foreign platforms as models Indeed, the Iranian military is known for its locally made weapons which, according to Western and Israeli analysts, have fairly destructive capabilities. Its missiles, including and especially the Fateh, are capable of penetrating deep into enemy territory to hit heavily reinforced targets. The US and Israel believe that these weapons are especially designed and created in order to terrorize Israeli civilian centers when the right opportunity comes. It must be remembered that Iran does not recognize the state of Israel and is traditionally and religiously bent on eliminating the ‘Zionists’ from the face of the earth.
As of late, Iran is believed to be on the process of creating nuclear weapons. This is denied by the regime, however, saying that their nuclear development is solely for civilian and scientific purposes and that the country has the right to acquire nuclear power, just like all other countries..
Israel and the US have not ruled out military actions against Iran, with the former convinced that the creation of nuclear weapons by the Iran is a very serious existential threat. Of course, a military is something that is thought of very carefully by Israel, particularly because Iran’s defensive capabilities are close, if not on par, with that of the armies of developed countries.
Definitions
- Air force > Combat aircraft: Number of fighter aircrafts (fixed wing aircrafts with combat capability).
- Army > Attack helicopters: Number of attack helicopter (includes helicopters that have some attacking capabilities).
- Army > Main battle tanks: Number of main battle tanks.
- Battle-related deaths > Number of people: Battle-related deaths (number of people). Battle-related deaths are deaths in battle-related conflicts between warring parties in the conflict dyad (two conflict units that are parties to a conflict). Typically, battle-related deaths occur in warfare involving the armed forces of the warring parties. This includes traditional battlefield fighting, guerrilla activities, and all kinds of bombardments of military units, cities, and villages, etc. The targets are usually the military itself and its installations or state institutions and state representatives, but there is often substantial collateral damage in the form of civilians being killed in crossfire, in indiscriminate bombings, etc. All deaths--military as well as civilian--incurred in such situations, are counted as battle-related deaths.
- Budget: Annual defense budget in billion USD.
- Global Peace Index: The Global Peace Index is comprised of 22 indicators in the three categories ongoing domestic or international conflicts; societal safety; and security and militarization. A low index value indicates a peaceful and safe country.
- Military service age and obligation: This entry gives the required ages for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of service obligation.
- Navy > Aircraft carriers: Number of aircraft carriers.
- Navy > Corvette warships: Number of corvettes.
- Navy > Submarines: Number of patrol boats (includes minesweepers).
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Paramilitary personnel:
Paramilitary.
No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.
- Personnel > Per capita: Armed forces personnel are active duty military personnel, including paramilitary forces if the training, organization, equipment, and control suggest they may be used to support or replace regular military forces. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
- Service age and obligation: This entry gives the required ages for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of sevice obligation.
- WMD > Missile: A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of missile weapons of mass destruction
- WMD > Nuclear: A description of the nation's situation with regards to the possession and manufacture of nuclear weapons
SOURCES: Wikipedia: List of countries by level of military equipment (List); Uppsala Conflict Data Program, http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/UCDP/.; http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/indexes/global-peace-index, Global Rankings. Vision of Humanity.; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; Wikipedia: List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel (The list); World Development Indicators database; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; The Nuclear Threat Initiative
Citation
Iran Military Profiles (Subcategories)
- Iran ranked first for manpower fit for military service > males age 16-49 amongst Middle Eastern and North Africa in 2013.
- Iran ranked third for armed forces personnel amongst Muslim countries in 2000.
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The Iranian Armed Forces is considered by many observers to be one of the strongest armed forces in the Middle East. Long-standing conflicts with other Arab states and its hatred towards Israel have led to the creation of the powerful Iranian military.
It is noteworthy that Iran has had favorable relations with the US in the past. In fact, the US had once supplied the country with weapons in the clandestine operation known as Iran Contra Affair. However, following the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the installation of a theocratic regime, relations soured and the US, along with its Western allies, started imposing economic and military sanctions on the country.
Still, despite the limited opportunities to acquire foreign military equipments, Iran managed to establish a powerful military through several means:
Purchasing weapons from countries such as North Korea and China;
Creating their own indigenous weapons using existing foreign platforms as models Indeed, the Iranian military is known for its locally made weapons which, according to Western and Israeli analysts, have fairly destructive capabilities. Its missiles, including and especially the Fateh, are capable of penetrating deep into enemy territory to hit heavily reinforced targets. The US and Israel believe that these weapons are especially designed and created in order to terrorize Israeli civilian centers when the right opportunity comes. It must be remembered that Iran does not recognize the state of Israel and is traditionally and religiously bent on eliminating the ‘Zionists’ from the face of the earth.
As of late, Iran is believed to be on the process of creating nuclear weapons. This is denied by the regime, however, saying that their nuclear development is solely for civilian and scientific purposes and that the country has the right to acquire nuclear power, just like all other countries..
Israel and the US have not ruled out military actions against Iran, with the former convinced that the creation of nuclear weapons by the Iran is a very serious existential threat. Of course, a military is something that is thought of very carefully by Israel, particularly because Iran’s defensive capabilities are close, if not on par, with that of the armies of developed countries.
Posted on 07 Apr 2014
Edsel.G
247 Stat enthusiast
