The Islamic Republic of Iran Army is the ground force of the Military of Islamic Republic of Iran. In Iran, it is also called Artesh, (ارتش) which is Persian for "army." As of 2007, the regular Iranian Army was estimated to have 465,000 personnel (235,000 conscripts and 230,000 professionals) plus around 350,000 reservists for a total of 815,000 soldiers according to the CSIS.^[1] Conscripts serve for 18 months and have professional military training.^[2]

Iran has two parallel land forces with some integration at the command level: the regular Artesh (Army), and the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, also known as the Pasdaran (IRGC).

History[link]

Antiquity[link]

Iranian military armor, steel and leather, dated 1450 AD. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A national army of sorts has existed in Iran since the establishment of the Persian Empire. National armies usually appeared throughout the country's points of strength, while in times of weakness mercenaries and conscript armies were recruited temporarily from fiefdoms. The original core of full time troops and imperial body guards were called the Immortals, these were established in 580 BC by Cyrus the Great. These were replaced by the Junishapur Shâhanshâh (King of Kings) in the Sassanid Dynasty after a period of disunity and chaos in the country. Following the Arab invasion of Iran and eventual resurgence of Iranian dynasties a new full time army was formed by the name of Qezelbash in the Safavid Dynasty. The Qajar period saw several attempts to re-model the traditional Iranian military based on western models. These were met with limited success at the time.

Training over the centuries has varied wildly, however until the Qajar era it was common to see many train for combat i

Pre-revolutionary (Pahlavi) period[link]

Following the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925 the new Imperial Iranian Army became a priority. Dramatic reforms brought in a host of western advisors and over the course of the next 50 years the army was to become the world's fifth strongest by 1979. Throughout the 1970s the Imperial Iranian Ground Forces, as they were then known, underwent a rapid transformation and increase in strength.

In 1979 the Army was a largely mechanized and armored force of about 285,000 troops; Organized in 3 corps, with headquarters in Tehran area, in Shiraz in the south, and in Kermanshah near the Iraq border. There were additional plans for a fourth corps to be established at the Chah Bahar complex at the eastern end of the Persian Gulf.^[3]

Its major ground formations included the following:

• Three armored divisions (plus one more in organization in Sistan Baluchestan): each with six tank battalions and five mechanized infantry battalions,
• Three infantry divisions,
• Two Iranian Imperial Guard Divisions and
• Four independent brigades (1 armored, 1 infantry, 1 airborne and 1 Special Forces)
• Army Aviation Command with 200 plus helicopters.

These combat units, backed up by the usual complement of support units, were said to be 85 percent operational.^[who?]

Post-revolution[link]

Immediately after the 1979 revolution a series of purges gutted the core of the Army's western trained senior commanders. The last general to head the Imperial Iranian Army was General Gholam Ali Oveissi, who was assassinated in Paris along with his brother in 1984. He was replaced by General Gharebaghi who allied with the Islamic Republic and dismantled the Army. The purges left it poorly prepared when Iraq invaded Iran at the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War^{[citation needed]}. A new cadre of commanders, shaped by their experiences in the war, drastically reduced reliance on foreign supplied equipment and training^{[citation needed]}. Following the war the military pursued a dramatic restructuring, much of it under total secrecy^{[citation needed]}. While still only a mere shadow of its pre-revolutionary self, the Artesh rapidy re-asserted its abilities and started to grow again^{[citation needed]}.

1987[link]

In 1987, and on the verge of the end of the Iran–Iraq War the Artesh was organized as follows:^{[citation needed]}

• Three mechanized divisions,
  • Each of which composed of three armored and six mechanized battalions organized into three brigades
• Seven infantry divisions,
• One Special Forces division composed of four brigades,
• One airborne brigade,
• One Air Support Command,

and some independent armored brigades including infantry and a "coastal force."

Current status[link]

Force structure, order of battle, and unit identifications for Iranian forces differ greatly among sources. It is unclear which identifications are accurate. The evolution of Iranian units over time is somewhat opaque, and rather dated wartime designations are often published, sometimes confusing brigades with divisions. During the Iran–Iraq War some brigades formed the nuclei of new divisions, and may have reverted to that status with the end of the war.

Jane's reported that the Army was commanded via three army level headquarters with 15 divisions.^[2] The IISS reported in the Military Balance 2008 that there 12 Corps level regional headquarters, five armoured divisions with some independent brigades, seven infantry divisions with some independent brigades, one special forces brigade, two commando divisions with some independent brigades, plus an airborne brigade. There were also six artillery groups, and aviation forces.^[4] The number of divisions reported has not changed for some years. Often reported formations include the 23rd Special Forces Division, established in 1993-1994, and the 55th Paratroop Division. One source reports that the 23rd Special Forces Division is amongst the most professional units in the Iranian Army, with 5,000 regular soldiers and strictly no conscripts.

The regular armoured divisions, including the 92nd Armored Division, are sub-divided into three brigades.

The regular army also has a number of independent brigades and groups, though there is almost no reliable data on the size and number of these smaller independent formations. These include one logistics brigade, an infantry brigade, an airborne brigade, special forces (Takavar) brigades, and five artillery brigades/regiments. There are also coastal defense units, a growing number of air defense groups, between four and six army aviation units, and a growing number of logistics and supply formations.

There are a variety of other reports of doubtful veracity. Some sources claim that small light formations in the regular army include an Airmobile Forces Group created after the Iran–Iraq War. This formation is said to include the 29th Special Forces Division, which was formed in 1993-1994, and the 55th Paratroop Division. Other sources^[who?] claim that the commando forces of the regular army and IRGC are integrated into a Corps of about 30,000 soldiers, with integrated helicopter lift and air assault capabilities. These airborne and special forces troops are said to train together at Shiraz.

It has also been reported that Iran is one of the 5 countries having a Cyber-army capable of conducting cyber-warfare operations. It has also been reported that Iran has immensely increased its cyberwarfare capability since the post presidential election un-rest.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Furthermore China has accused United States of having initiated a cyber war against Iran, through sites such as Twitter and YouTube and employing a hacker brigade for the purpose of fomenting unrest in Iran.^[10][11] It has also been reported in early 2010, that two new garrisons for cyberwarfare have been established at Zanjan and Isfahan.^[12]

Equipment[link]

Iranian made Zulfiqar tank

Iran's main battle tanks include an estimated 100 indigenous Zulfiqar MBTs, 480 T-72S, 150 M-60A1s, 75 T-62s, 100 Chieftain Mk 3/Mk 5 MBTs, 540 T-54/T-55/Type 59s, and 168 M-47/M-48s.^[13]

The Zulfiqar is the defense industry of Iran's most recent main battle tank, named after the twin-pointed legendary sword of Hazrat Ali.^{[citation needed]} Born as the brainchild of Brigadier General Mir-Younes Masoumzadeh, deputy ground force commander for research and self-sufficiency of the armed forces, the vehicle has been developed from major components of the American M-48 tank. One of the features which has drawn the attention of the Defense Ministry is that indigenously-made parts have been used in it. The prototypes of the tank were tested in 1993. Six semi-industrial prototypes were produced and tested in 1997. The IISS estimates that over 100 Zulfiqar 1's and Zulfiqar 3's are now in service.^[14]

The main attack helicopter of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army is the AH-1J Sea Cobra. The number of AH-1Js in service was estimated by the IISS in 2009 as 50,^[15] though 202 were delivered before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Iran also operates an unknown number of the Panha 2091, which is an unlicensed, locally-made upgrade of the AH-1J.^[16]

See also[link]

• International Rankings of Iran in Military

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Richard A. Gabriel, ed. (1983-09-27), Fighting Armies: Antagonists in the Middle East - A Combat Assessment, Greenwood Press, ISBN 978-0-313-23904-5  - includes army order of battle as of 1978-79
• Steven R. Ward, Immortal: a military history of Iran and its armed forces, Georgetown University Press, 2009, ISBN 1-58901-258-5, ISBN 978-1-58901-258-5

External links[link]

• Globalsecurity.org

v t e Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army · Navy · Air Force · Air Defense Force · Islamic Revolutionary Guards

v t e Commander in Chiefs of the Iranian Army since 1923 Pahlavi Dynasty (1923-1979) Aboulfazl Sa'datmand Fazlollah Zahedi Haj Ali Razmara Fazlollah Zahedi Mohammad Khatam Nader Bachman-Golich Eskandar Azmodeh Abbas Ghare Baghi Gholam-Reza Azhari Feridoun Jam Hossein Fardoust Bahram Aryana Islamic Republic (1979-present) Mohammad-Vali Gharani Mohammad-Hadi Shadmehr Ali Shahbazi Mohammad Salimi Ataollah Salehi

v t e List of Commanders of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Valiollah Fallahi Ghasem-Ali Zahirnejad Ali Sayad Shirazi Ahmad Dadbin Abdol-Ali Pourshasb Naser Mohammadifar Mohammad-Hossein Dadras Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan