Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces
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 Defence & Armed Forces Logistics. [1]
- The regular armed forces has three branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force.
- The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has five branches: Qods Force (Special Forces), Basij (Paramilitary), Navy, Air Force, and the Ground Forces.
Iran's military as a whole includes about 545,000 personnel. The IISS estimates there are 350,000 personnel in the Ground Forces(Army), 18,000 in the Navy, 52,000 in the Air Force, and 125,000 in the five branches for the IRGC. [2] It also has a people's militia called the Basij, or Baseej paramilitary volunteer forces. There are about 90,000 full-time, active-duty uniformed Basij members and up to 300,000 reservists. The Basij can mobilize up to 11 million men and women. [3]
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, Kowsar, Fateh-110, Shahab-3, and a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles, at least one of which Israel claims has been used to spy on Israel. [2] In another case, Iran claims that Iranian UAVs spied on the USS Ronald Reagan for 25 minutes without being detected. [3]
U.S. officials have alleged that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, in its February 2006 report on Iran's nuclear programme, said it had no evidence of this.
Leadership
- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- Rear Admiral Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar (Minister of Defence)
- Major General Ataollah Salehi (General Commander of the Armed Forces)
- Major General Hasan Firuzabadi (Head of the Armed Forces General Command Headquarters)
- Brigadier General Abdolrahim Mousavi (Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces)
- Brigadier General Mohammad-Hossein Dadress (Army)
- Brigadier General Karim Ghavami (Air Force)
- Rear Admiral Sajjad Kouchaki Badlani (Navy)
- Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi (Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards)
- Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi (Chief of the Joint Staff of the IRGC)
- Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Zahedi (IRGC Ground Forces)
- Brigadier General Hossein Salami (IRGC Air Force)
- Rear Admiral Morteza Saffari (IRGC Navy)
- Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi (Commander-in-chief of the Mobilized Basij forces)
- Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani (Qods Force)
- Brigadier General Abdol-Ali Najafi (Secret unit)
Chemical weapons
Iran ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. Iranian troops and civilians 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 eighteen years after the end of the Iran-Iraq war, about 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]
Defence industry
Under the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran's military industry was limited to assembly of foreign weapons. In the assembly lines that were put up by American firms, such as Bell, Litton and Northrop, Iranian workers put together a variety of helicopters, aircraft, guided missiles, electronic components and tanks. [5]
In 1973 the Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) was established. [6] The company was set up in a first attempt to organize the assembly and repair of foreign delivered weapons. [7] The Iranian Defense Industries Organization was the first to succeed in taking a step into what could be called a military industry by reverse engineering Soviet RPG-7, BM21, and SAM-7 missiles in 1979. [8]
Nevertheless, most of Iran's weapons before the Islamic revolution 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. [9]
After the Islamic revolution, Iran found itself severely isolated and lacking technological expertise. Because of economic sanctions and a weapons embargo put on Iran by the United States, Iran was forced to rely on its domestic arms industry for weapons and spare parts since there were very few countries willing to do business with Iran. [10] The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was put in charge of creating what we today know as the Iranian military industry. Under their command Iran's military industry was enormously expanded, and with the Ministry of Defence pouring investment into the missile industry, Iran soon accumulated a vast arsenal of missiles. [11]
Budget
Iran's military defense is one of the largest in the region. Iran's defence 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, except the United Arab Emirates.[12]
Still, Iran has been described as having the most powerful military in the Middle East, according to the senior U.S. commander in the region.[4]
November 2, 2006 Missile Test
On November 2, 2006, Iran fired unarmed missiles to begin 10 days of military war games. Iranian state television reported "dozens of missiles were fired including Shahab-2 and Shahab-3 missiles. The missiles had ranges from 300 km to up to 2,000 km...Iranian experts have made some changes to Shahab-3 missiles installing cluster warheads in them with the capacity to carry 1,400 bombs." These launches come after some United States-led military exercises in the Persian Gulf on October 30, 2006, meant to train for blocking the transport of weapons of mass destruction [13]. Iran is also believed to have started the development of an ICBM missile project, known as Ghadr-110 with a range of more than 3000 km; the program is paralleled with advancement of a satellite launcher.
Combat history and operations
- Dhofar Rebellion (1962-1975). 1500 Iranian troops supported the Sultan of Oman against an insurrection.
- The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).
- Operation Praying Mantis (18 April 1988). The U.S. retaliation for the Iranian mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58).
- Operation Prime Chance (1987-1989). The U.S. operation to stop Iranian mine-laying vessels from blocking international traffic through the sea lanes.
References
- ^ http://www.mod.ir/
- ^ IISS Military Balance 2006, Routledge for the IISS, London, 2006, p.187
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Favors_Asymmetric_Strategy_In_Joust_With_US_999.html