Jump to content

Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ArmanJan (talk | contribs) at 16:41, 16 July 2006 (→See also: Link removed, Iranian military exports was merged with Iranian military industry). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Iran Military Menu The Islamic Republic of Iran has two kinds of armed forces: the regular forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Both fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. [1]

Iran's military capabilities are kept largely secret. In recent years, official announcements have highlighted the development of weapons such as Fajr-3 MIRV missile, Hoot, Kosar, Fateh-110, Shahab-3, and a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles, at least one of which has been used to spy on Israel. [2] In another case, Iranian UAVs spied on USS Ronald Reagan for 25 minutes without being detected. [3]

Iran's drive towards military self-sufficiency and pursuit of nuclear technologies under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty has drawn Western allegations that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, in its February 2006 report on Iran's nuclear program, said it had no evidence of this.

Leadership

Chemical weapons

File:Iranchemical.gif
Iranian victim

Iran, one of the few countries that has experienced chemical warfare, ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. Iranian troops suffered tens of thousands of casualties from Iraqi chemical weapons during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. As a result, Iran has publicly stood against the use of chemical weapons, making numerous vitriolic comments against Iraq's use of such weapons in international forums.

Even today, more than ten years after the end of the Iran-Iraq war, approximately 30,000 Iranians are still suffering and dying from the effects of chemical weapons deployed by Iraq during the war conflict. The need to manage the treatment of such a large number of casualties has placed Iran’s medical specialists in the forefront of the development of effective treatment regimes for chemical weapons victims, and particularly for those suffering from exposure to mustard gas. [4]

Defense industry

Main article: Iranian military industry
File:Shafaq.jpg
Iranian-made jetfighter

Under the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran's defense industry was limited to assembling small arms under license. Most of its weapons were imported from the United States and Europe. Between 1971 and 1975, the Shah went on a buying spree, ordering $8 billion in weapons from the United States alone. This alarmed the United States Congress, which strengthened a 1968 law on arms exports in 1976 and renamed it the Arms Export Control Act. Still, the United States continued to sell large amounts of weapons to Iran until the 1979 Islamic Revolution. [5]

In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran. The United States, in an effort to help Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, put an arms embargo on Iran, froze its foreign assets, refused to deliver purchased weapons, and forbade U.S. firms to do business with Iran. [6]

Iran found itself severely isolated and lacking the technological expertise to make even rifles. In response, Iranian scientists joined to launch Iran's defense industry. Within a year, Iran was able to develop RPG-7s, rifles, and other military equipment.

As of 2006, Iran is close to becoming militarily self-sufficient [7], one of only a few such nations. [8] In 1999, Iran's army became completely self-sufficient, and some years later the Air Force and the Navy followed suit. Iran now develops frigates, submarines, tanks, jet fighters, ballistic missiles, and other arms and military gear. [9]

Budget

File:IranSoldiers.jpg
Iranian soldiers

Iran's defense budget for 2005 is estimated to be $6.2 billion by London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. This is $91 per capita, less than other Persian Gulf nations. Iran also spends less as a percentage of gross national product than any other Persian Gulf nation, save the United Arab Emirates.[10]

Still, Iran has one of the strongest conventional militaries in the Middle East because it keeps costs low by manufacturing many of its weapons instead of buying them abroad. [citation needed]

Combat history

See also

Official sites

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_Armed_Forces&oldid=64134318"