Military

Supreme Leader of Iran with Iranian military commanders.
Supreme Leader of Iran with Iranian military commanders.

Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of IranArmed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
نیروی های مسلح جمهوری اسلامی ایران
niroohay e mosallah e jomuri e eslami e Iran

Founded: 1923 (as modern military)
Current form: 1980
Service branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Iranian Air Defense Force, IRGC, Ground Forces, Quds Force, Basij, Iran Police Force
Headquarters: Tehran

Leadership
Supreme Commander: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Commander-in-Chief of the Army: General Ataollah Salehi
Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC: General Mohammad Ali Jafari
Chief of Staff: Major: General Hassan Firuzabadi

Manpower
Active personnel: 545,000 (ranked 8th)
Reserve personnel: 650,000

Expenditures
Budget: $9.174 billion (2008)[1] (24th by total expenditure)
Percent of GDP: 2.7% (2008)[1]

The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: نيروهای مسلح جمهوری اسلامی ايران) include the IRIA (Persian: ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران) and the IRGC (Persian: سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی) and the Police Force [2] (Persian: نيروی انتظامی جمهوری اسلامی ایران).

These forces total about 545,000 active personnel (not including the Police Force and the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution).[3] All branches of armed forces fall under the command of General Headquarters of Armed Forces (ستاد کل نیروهای مسلح). The Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics is responsible for planning logistics and funding of the armed forces and is not involved with in-the-field military operational command.

  • The Iranian Military consists of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, and the Iranian Air Defense Force. The regular armed forces have an estimated 545,000 personnel: the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, 465,000 personnel; the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, 28,000 personnel, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, 52,000 airmen.[3] Iranian Air Defense Force is a branch split off from the IRIAF.[4]
  • The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, or Revolutionary Guards, has an estimated 120,000 personnel in five branches: Its own Navy, Air Force, and Ground Forces; and the Quds Force (Special Forces).[3]
  • The Basij is a paramilitary volunteer force controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Its membership is a matter of controversy. Iranian sources claim a membership of 12.6 million, including women, of which perhaps 3 million are combat capable. There are a claimed 2,500 battalions of which some are full-time personnel.[5] Globalsecurity.org quotes a 2005 study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimating 90,000 active-duty full-time uniformed members, 300,000 reservists, and a total of 11 million men that can be mobilized if need be.[6]

Iran's military was called the Middle East's most powerful by General John Abizaid chief of United States Central Command (U.S. forces' commander in the region). However General Abizaid said he did not include the Israel Defense Forces as they did not fall into his area of operations.[7]

Budget

Military expenditures (% GDP)
Military expenditures (% GDP)

Iran's 2007 defense budget was estimated to be $7.31 billion by London's International Institute for Strategic Studies.[8] This was $102 per capita, a lower figure than other Persian Gulf nations and lower as a percentage of gross national product than all other Persian Gulf states (2.6% of GDP in 2007). This makes Iran's ranking the 25th largest defense expenditure globally.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute the 2008 military expenditure was $9.174 billion, 2.7% of the GDP.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "SIPRI Publications". milexdata.sipri.org. Retrieved 15 January 2011. Select "Iran" and click "Submit"
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ a b c IISS Military Balance 2006, Routledge for the IISS, London, 2006, p.187
  4. ^ http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8711271164
  5. ^ IISS Military Balance 2008, p.244
  6. ^ GlobalSecurity.org, [2]
  7. ^ Iran Favors Asymmetric Strategy In Joust With US
  8. ^ Cordesman: Conventional Armed Forces in the Gulf authored by Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy

Further reading

  • PDF(French) Alain Rodier, The Iranian Menace, French Centre for Research on Intelligence, January 2007 - Order of Battle, stratégy, asymmetric warfare, intelligence services, state terrorism. Includes detailed order of battle for both regular army and Revolutionary Guard
  • Anthony H. Cordesman, Iran's Military Forces in Transition: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, ISBN 0-275-96529-5
  • 'Iranian exercise reveals flaws in air defences,' Jane's Defence Weekly, 9 December 2009

External links

 

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