French newspaper Le Figaro sheds light on the development of the Iranian military structure
Le Figaro newspaper reported The French daily newspaper published an article about the development of the Iranian military structure in recent decades despite the economic sanctions, noting that this structure focuses on a powerful arsenal of missiles and drones.
The writer, Mayol Al-Debar, began His article in the newspaper said: “There was a time when the Iranian army was one of the strongest armies in the Middle East facing Israel… But at that time, the empire led by the Persian Pahlavi dynasty maintained friendly relations with Israel, and as such, cooperated in military matters until An agreement was signed in 1977 to create ballistic missiles.
Today, after the unprecedented attack launched by Iran against Israel and the Israeli response last Thursday evening against Iranian military targets in the Isfahan region, The two countries have become sworn enemies and are facing open war more than ever before. In preparation for such a possibility, Iran has been developing its armed forces for four decades.
The French writer said, In the beginning, Iran had to rebuild its military power after its costly war against Iraq in 1980.
In this regard, says Farid Waheed, co-director of the North African and Middle East Observatory. In the John Joris Foundation: “The last Shah of Iran had the ambition to establish a strong army…but with the end of the war, Iran had consumed all of its weapons, which forced it to put an end to its attacks.
So everything had to be rebuilt at the end of the 1980s, even as international sanctions began to increase since the first measures taken by the United States in response to the hostage-taking at the American embassy in Tehran.
While the Islamic Republic will quickly resume its nuclear program, the country must build its conventional army.
"Le Figaro" Pierre Razo, academic director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic and Special Studies in the Middle East, said: “After the Iran-Iraq war, Russia and North Korea provided Iran with tanks, aircraft, and armored vehicles in small quantities to compensate for its losses, but since that time Iran has not received heavy weapons.”
The most clear example of this, without a doubt, is the fleet of combat aircraft, which the Iranian army possesses today… and we can find American equipment dating back to before 1979, such as the F. 4, F-5 or F-14.
During the war on its Iraqi neighbor, Iran lost 180 of these models, which were “covered in dust.” It currently still has 140, in addition to a small number of Russian MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft, which do not match the 300 highly advanced aircraft that the Israeli army possesses.. It also possesses “leniency” In addition, there are about forty of the latest generation F-35 fighter bombers, which today are distinguished by their stealth capabilities.
Pierre Razou explains that he “faces the difficulty of obtaining Heavy Weapons Since the war, Iran has developed its “air ballistic” power.. To compensate for the weakness of its air power, Iran has in fact built a “garden”. It is made up of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles by developing its own technology, which is called “domestic”.
While it is difficult to determine the quality and quantity of its military arsenal hidden in its bases The military is precisely underground.
Certainly – according to “Le Figaro” – Iran did not succeed in reaching Israel on April 13 except twelve times out of 300 missiles and drones. It was launched by Iran, as the vast majority of it was intercepted by Israeli defenses. However, the latest generation weapons were not used during the attack. Through the ballistic missile program, Iran, for example, in 2023 revealed the “Khaybar” missile. It is a model that represents the latest trend..
This missile has a range of 2000 km and can carry warheads exceeding a ton.
In recent years, the Iranian army has also revealed developed combat marches, reconnaissance marches, and destruction marches.. There is also a "strategic" It is called the Kaman-22, and it can reach a range of up to 2,000 km and is equipped with cruise missiles with a range of 200 km.
Iran has found in all of these programs the ideal solution to establishing a powerful " Annoyance" And defense at the lowest costs..
The “Grand Continent” magazine estimated The Iranian attack on Israel on April 13 was seven times less than the cost of defending the Israeli Iron Dome… “And the Iranian army knows this now, as it has enough missiles to exhaust the Israeli anti-aircraft defense and penetrate a few missiles.”
With regard to protecting its territory, Iran has invested in all areas of air defense with the exception of the anti-ballistic missile force by purchasing short (Tor M1) and long (S-300) systems from Moscow… as Iran has been seeking for some time Tawila – to obtain “S-400” anti-aircraft batteries. From Russia, which promised to provide it with “Sukhoi Su-35” aircraft. But it is delayed in delivering them.
Le Figaro continued: Saying that Iranian territory is vast, and Iran is far from having an “Iron Dome.” Similar to those possessed by Israel..
On the other hand, it possesses a large number of officers and soldiers.
Facing 130,000 active Israeli soldiers and 300,000 reserve soldiers, Iran, for its part, has an army that includes more than 400,000 active soldiers and 350,000 soldiers ready for mobilization. To this regular army called “Arsh”, is added the Pasdaran force, which numbers about 300,000 men, including the “Jerusalem” forces. The famous special.
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