The Iranian Armed Forces, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, are the combined military forces of Iran, comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Artesh), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah) and the Law Enforcement Force (Faraja).
Iranian Armed Forces are the largest in the Middle East in terms of active troops. Iran's military forces are made up of approximately 610,000 active-duty personnel plus 350,000 reserve and trained personnel that can be mobilized when needed, bringing the country's military manpower to about 960,000 total personnel. These numbers do not include Law Enforcement Command or Basij.
Most of Iran's imported weapons consist of American systems purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with limited purchases from the Soviet Union in the 1990s following the Iran–Iraq War. However, the country has since then launched a robust domestic rearmament program, and its inventory has become increasingly indigenous. According to Iranian officials, most of the country's military hardware is domestically manufactured, and the country had already become an exporter of arms by the 2000s. Unable to import weapon systems from abroad due to international and U.S. sanctions, and suffering from an increasingly aging air force fleet, Iran has invested considerable funds into an ambitious ballistic and cruise missile program for long-range strike capability, and has manufactured different types of arms and munitions, including tanks, armoured vehicles and drones, as well as various naval assets and aerial defense systems.
Iran's ballistic missile and space program is an internationally hot political topic over which it has consistently refused to negotiate. Iranian authorities state that the country's missile program is not designed to deliver nuclear payloads, but used only for surgical strikes, and is therefore not relevant to any nuclear negotiations with the P5+1.
The Iranian drone program has also raised concerns across the Middle East and much of the Western world, especially with proliferation among Iranian-allied forces in the Middle East, as well as exports to countries hostile to the U.S. According to U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the U.S is "for the first time since the Korean War operating without complete air superiority" due to threats posed by Iranian drones.
All branches of the armed forces fall under the command of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. 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 commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the Supreme Leader.
History
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.
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 Iraqi invasion that began the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. During this conflict, there were several conflicts against 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 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.
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.
A former military-associated police force, the Iranian Gendarmerie, was merged with the National Police (Shahrbani) and Islamic Revolution Committees in 1990.