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The Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces (Persian: ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران, romanized: Arteš Jumhuriye-e Eslâmi-e Irân, abbr. AJA), commonly known as Artesh (ارتش), is the conventional armed forces of Iran and one of Iran’s two armed services, the other being the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It is tasked to protect the territorial integrity of the country from external and internal threats and to project power.[10] The main spokesman for the Armed Forces is Ebrahim Zolfaghari.

The Artesh’s headquarters coordinates its four separate service branches: the Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force.[11]

Both the Armed Forces and the IRGC provide essential security functions for Iran and coordinate regularly. But some rivalry remains, resulting from their uneven access to resources, varying levels of influence with the regime, and inherent overlap in missions and responsibilities.[12]

History

Main articles: Military history of Iran, Naval history of Iran, and Air force history of Iran
See also: List of wars involving Iran
Main articles: Military of the Sasanian Empire and Seleucid army
Main articles: Military of Safavid Iran and Military of Afsharid Iran

20th century

The Iranian Army has been actively engaged in quelling tribal and separatist rebellions beginning in the 1940s.[3] The 1941 invasion by the Allies of World War II resulted in a decisive loss for the Iranian forces, the deposition of Iran’s Shah and five years of subsequent occupation.[3] By 1947–48, the wartime U.S. Army Mission was reorganised as a Military Assistance Advisory Group on a permanent basis.

A U.S. Director of Central Intelligence approved estimate wrote in December 1954:[13]

Of the $110 million in [military equipment aid since 1950] allocated thus far, about $76 million had been shipped by mid-1954. The mission to the army is to be augmented by five U.S. training teams at brigade or division level in early 1955. The Iranian armed forces consist of a conscript army of 120,000; a gendarmerie or rural police force of 20,000; and a small air force, navy, and frontier guard, the latter for border patrol and customs duties. The Air Force, Navy, and Frontier Guard are subordinate units of the Army. The Gendarmerie is under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, except in time of war, when it comes under army command.

After the coup in 1953, Iran began purchasing some weapons from Israel, the United States, and other countries of the Western Bloc. Later on, Iran began establishing its own armaments industry; its efforts in this remained largely unrecognized internationally, until recently.

From the 1970s, the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces sent detachments to help the Red Lion and Sun society in rescue and relief missions after domestic natural disasters, including clearing roads, reestablishing communications, supplying goods, airlifting equipment, transporting casualties and personnel and setting up field hospitals and post-hospital care centres.[14][15] More recently, under the mullahs, military personnel helped disaster recovery efforts and the Iranian Red Crescent Society after the Bam earthquake.

Following the Iranian revolution in 1979, deteriorating relations with the U.S. resulted in international sanctions led by the US, including an arms embargo being imposed on Iran.

Revolutionary Iran was taken by surprise by the 1980 Iraqi invasion began the Iran–Iraq War, which lasted almost eight years and ended in almost unchanged frontiers (status quo ante bellum).

During this war, there were also several conflicts with the United States. From 1987, the United States Central Command sought to stop Iranian mine-laying vessels from blocking the international sea lanes through the Persian Gulf in Operation Prime Chance. The operation lasted until 1989. On April 18, 1988, the US retaliated for the Iranian mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts in Operation Praying Mantis. Simultaneously, the Iranian armed forces had to learn to maintain and keep operational, their large stocks of US-built equipment and weaponry, without outside help, due to the American-led sanctions. However, Iran was able to obtain limited amounts of American-made armaments, when it was able to buy American spare parts and weaponry for its armed forces, during the Iran–Contra affair. At first, deliveries came via Israel and later, from the US.[16]

The Iranian government established a five-year rearmament program in 1989 to replace worn-out weaponry from the Iran–Iraq War. Between 1989 and 1992, Iran spent $10 billion on arms, some of which were designed to prevent other states’ naval vessels from accessing the sea, including marines and long-range Soviet planes capable of attacking aircraft carriers.[17]

Iranian cavalry in 1930

A former military-associated police force, the Iranian Gendarmerie, was merged with the National Police (Shahrbani) and Islamic Revolution Committees in 1990.

Iranian soldiers during Iran-Iraq war, 1980s

In 1991, the Iranian armed forces received a number of Iraqi military aircraft being evacuated from the Persian Gulf War of that year; most of which were incorporated into the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.

From 1921 to 1998, “Chairman of Chief of Staff” (Persian: رئیس ستاد مشترک ارتش) was the highest-ranking position within the Artesh, however after the newly established office “Commander-in-Chief of Artesh” (Persian: فرمانده کل ارتش) position was founded in 1998,[18] the former position was deposed as a decision-making position and became the coordinator deputy of the Chief Commander (Persian: معاونت هماهنگ‌کننده ارتش). The position is currently held by Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, who is second-in-command and deputy of Major general Abdolrahim Mousavi.[19]

The Iranian Navy has launched several missions to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia.[20] One of the reported missions took place in 2016.

In 2021, the Artesh announced that it would launch a satellite into space.[21]

Missions and deployments

Ground Force soldiers carrying off medical supplies for 2003 Bam earthquake

From 1972 to 1976, Iranian troops were sent to Oman to fight with the Royal Army of Oman against the Dhofar Rebellion.[3] In 1976, a contingent was sent to Pakistan to assist the Pakistan Army against the insurgency in Balochistan.[3] Iranian personnel were also reportedly present in the Vietnam War.[22]

In 2016, the special forces were deployed to fight in the Syrian civil war.[22]

International peacekeeping missions

Main article: Iranian peacekeeping missions

The Iranian Army participated in United Nations peacekeeping missions in the 1970s. It sent a battalion to replace Peruvian forces in the Golan Heights as part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the bulk of the forces were part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon until late 1978. Replaced by Finnish forces, Iranian peacekeepers were withdrawn in 1979 following the Islamic revolution.[23][24]

In 1993, the Iranian Army reestablished its professional peacekeeping units and declared that they are ready to be dispatched at the UN’s directive.[25] Since then, Iran has deployed forces in Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2003 and the African Union Mission in Darfur in 2012.[citation needed]

Structure

Organisation of the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces, 1973
Main article: List of Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces

The Joint Staff of the Armed Forces (Farsi acronym SEMAJA (Persian: سماجا) coordinates the four branches: the Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, the Air Force, Navy, and Air Defence Force.[26][27] The current chief of staff is Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari. The Joint Staff has the Central Provost and University of Command and Staff under control.

Military academies include the AJA University of Command and Staff; the AJA University of Medical Sciences; the Imam Ali Officers’ Academy; the Shahid Sattari Aeronautical University; the Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Academy; and the Imam Khomeini Naval University of Noshahr.

Equipment

Armed Forces Day exhibition in Isfahan

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.[28] In 1973, Iran Electronics Industries was established.[29] The company was set up to organise and carry out the assembly and repair of foreign-delivered weapons.[30] 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, BM-21, and SAM-7 missiles in 1979.[30]

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.[31]

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, it 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.[32]


Iranian Fighting Vehicles[33]
Model Image Origin Quantity Notes
Tanks
T-54A  Soviet Union Unknown [33]
T-55A [33]
Type 69  China (Captured from Iraq).[33]
Safir-74  Iran [33]
Chonma-ho  North Korea [33]
T-72M  Soviet Union (Captured from Iraq), (Some with an upgraded fire-control system).[33]
T-72M1 (Some with an upgraded fire-control system).[33]
T-72S  Russia (Some with electro-optical active protection system or slat armour).[33]
FV 101 Scorpion  United Kingdom (Locally upgraded examples known as Tosan).[33]
FV4201 Chieftain (Locally upgraded examples known as Mobarez), (Some with a Russian V-84 engine).[33]
M47M  United States (Some upgraded with an EO device and explosive reactive armour).[33]
M48A5 [33]
M60A1 Patton [33]
Karrar  Iran [33]
Armoured Fighting Vehicles
EE-9  Brazil Unknown (Captured from Iraq).[33]
Lynx  United States (Some armed with ZU-23s).[33]
Infantry Fighting Vehicles
BMP-1  Soviet Union Unknown [33]
BMP-2 (Some upgraded to carry Dehlavieh ATGMs).[33]
BTR-82  Iran [33]
Armoured Personnel Carriers
BTR-50PK  Soviet Union Unknown [33]
BTR-60PB [33]
M113  United States [33]
Boragh  Iran (Can be armed with MRLs and ZU-23s).[33]
Rakhsh (Can be armed with ZU-23s).[33]
Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles
Toofan  Iran Unknown [33]
Ra’ad (Yet to enter mass production).[33]
Caracal
Infantry Mobility Vehicles (IMV)
M1151  United States Unknown (Taken over from Afghan National Army elements that escaped to Iran).[33]
YOZ 102  Iran [33]
Jasour [33]
Fateq (Can be armed with RCLs).[33]
Roueintan (Yet to enter mass production).[33]
Early Rakhsh (Can be armed with ZU-23s).[33]
Late Rakhsh [33]
Kia [33]

Symbols and uniforms

Branch Insignia Flag Uniform colors and patterns
Service Combat Specialized
Ground Force
Air Defence Force
Air Force
Navy

Anniversary

Main article: Islamic Republic of Iran Army Day

See also

References

  1. ^ Shahbazi, A. Sh. (August 12, 2011) [December 15, 1986]. “ARMY i. Pre-Islamic Iran”. In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. 5. Vol. II. New York: Bibliotheca Persica Press. pp. 489–499. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  2. ^ Cronin, Stephanie (2012), The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah, 1921-1941, Routledge, pp. 37–38, ISBN 978-1136026942
  3. ^ a b c d e Sheikh-ol-Islami, M. J. (August 12, 2011) [December 15, 1986]. “ARMY vi. Pahlavi Period”. In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. 5. Vol. II. New York City: Bibliotheca Persica Press. pp. 508–514. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  4. ^ “Army Sacrificed for the Nation”, Hamshahri (in Persian), 16 April 2008, 48998, retrieved 1 June 2017
  5. ^ Ward 2014, p. 209.
  6. ^ “General Hatami appointed new Army Chief”.
  7. ^ “How I learned to stop worrying and love the Iranian army”, Tehran Bureau, The Guardian, 23 July 2015, retrieved 25 October 2017
  8. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2023). The Military Balance 2023. London: Routledge. pp. 324–328. ISBN 9781032508955.
  9. ^ Rome, Henry (17 June 2020), “Iran’s Defense Spending”, The Iran Primer, The United States Institute for Peace[dead link]
  10. ^ Army in the Passage of History: Annals, Revolution, the Holy Defense (in Persian). University of Command and Staff. 2012 [1391]. p. 48. ISBN 978-964-2523-38-2.
  11. ^ DIA 2019, p. 27.
  12. ^ DIA 2019, p. 5.
  13. ^ Probable Developments in Iran through 1955
  14. ^ Razani, Reza (1973), The Engineering Aspects of the Qir Earthquake of 10 April 1972 in Southern Iran: A Report to the National Science Foundation, National Academies, p. 141
  15. ^ Abolghasemi, Hassan; Poorheidari, Gholamreza; Mehrabi, Ali; Foroutan, Ghasem (October 2005), “Iranian military forces in the Bam earthquake”, Military Medicine, 170 (10): 859–861, doi:10.7205/MILMED.170.10.859, PMID 16435759
  16. ^ “The Iran-Contra Affair 20 Years On”. nsarchive2.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  17. ^ Pipes, Daniel; Patrick Clawson (1992–1993). “Ambitious Iran, Troubled Neighbors”. Foreign Affairs. 72 (1): 127. doi:10.2307/20045501. JSTOR 20045501.
  18. ^ Buchta, Wilfried (2000), Who rules Iran?: the structure of power in the Islamic Republic, Washington DC: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, p. 147, ISBN 0-944029-39-6
  19. ^ Army’s research books have replaced foreign text, IBNA, archived from the original on 2016-03-04, retrieved December 15, 2015
  20. ^ Wilkin, Sam (8 April 2015). Pomeroy, Robin (ed.). “Iran deploys warships off Yemen’s coast”. Reuters. Retrieved 25 April 2016. and Wilkin, Sam (7 January 2012). Pomeroy, Robin (ed.). “US navy frees Iranians held by pirates”. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  21. ^ “ورود ارتش ایران به باشگاه سازندگان ماهواره”. Khabar Fori. 2021-12-31.
  22. ^ a b Qaidaari, Abbas (28 April 2016). “Who sent Iranian Green Berets to Syria?”. Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 2016-05-02. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  23. ^ Mays, Terry M. (2010), Historical Dictionary of Multinational Peacekeeping, Historical Dictionaries of International Organizations, vol. 29, Scarecrow Press, p. 279, ISBN 978-0810875166
  24. ^ Iran: Country Study Guide, World Country Study Guide Library, vol. 78, Int’l Business Publications, 2005, p. 141, ISBN 0739714767
  25. ^ “Iranian Peacekeepers Ready to Serve UN Missions, Anytime, Anywhere—Army Colonel”. United Nations Information Centre – Tehran. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  26. ^ Simon, Rita J.; Abdel-Moneim, Mohamed Alaa (2011), A Handbook of Military Conscription and Composition the World Over, Lexington Books, pp. 152–153, ISBN 978-0739167526
  27. ^ Hossein Aryan (November 15, 2011), The Artesh: Iran’s Marginalized and Under-Armed Conventional Military, Middle East Institute, archived from the original on 2016-01-11, retrieved December 15, 2015
  28. ^ Dar Al Hayat. Dar Al Hayat. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  29. ^ “A Brief Introduction”. Archived from the original on 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  30. ^ a b NTI: Country Overviews: Iran: Missile Chronology Archived June 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ “A Code of Conduct for Weapons Sales”. Archived from the original on 2006-03-08. Retrieved 2012-02-06.. cdi.org. May 22, 1994
  32. ^ Procurement: November 3, 2004 Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Strategypage.com (2004-11-03). Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai “The Oryx Handbook Of Iranian Fighting Vehicles”. Oryx. Retrieved 2023-03-04.