An assessment of the Iranian military rearmament program

Recent military equipment purchases (e.g., kilo‐class submarines from the former Soviet Union, and Scud B/C missiles from North Korea) have focused attention on Iran's rearmament program. Concerns have been raised that this program has provided Iran with the capabilities needed to achieve military hegemony in the Persian Gulf or the Middle East more generally. This article examines these concerns and seeks to correct some of the misconceptions that have led to an exaggeration of the rearmament program's scale and importance. First, the nature of the program is outlined, including threat perceptions, financial limits, military imports, and domestic military production. Next, Iran's conventional military capabilities are compared with those of five other regional powers (Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Syria) for the period 1988–1992. This comparison is made from two perspectives: military demands upon the financial and human resources of these societies; and, their respective theoretical ground force capabilities. Finally, Iran's capabilities and intentions with respect to weapons of mass destruction are surveyed

Exaggeration · Hegemony · Middle East · Persian · Political science · Politics · Soviet union · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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  Aaron Karp•The Washington Quarterly•1995

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  Paul Cornish•International Affairs•1994

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