Iran's military industry manufactures and exports various types of arms and military equipment. Iran's military industry, under the command of
Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, is composed of the following main components:
Security of Telecommunication and Information Technology (STI) is also part of the Iranian defense industry.
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History
Iran's military industry was born under the last Shah of Iran
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1973, the Iran Electronics Industries (IEI)
''Sânai'-ye Elâktrunik-e Iran''
, logo = SAIran.svg
, logo_size = 200px
, type = State-owned
, foundation =
, location_city = Tehran
, location_country = Iran
, area_served = Iran
, industry ...
was founded to organize efforts to assemble and repair foreign-delivered weapons. Most of Iran's weapons before the Islamic revolution were imported from the United States and Europe. Between 1971 and 1975, the Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
went on a buying spree, ordering $8 billion in weapons from the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
alone. This alarmed the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, 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.
In 1977, the Iranian Defense Industries Organization
The Defense Industries Organization (DIO) is a Conglomerate (company), conglomerate of companies run by the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran whose function is to provide the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Armed Forces with the necessar ...
began to work on missiles jointly with Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in Project Flower and requested a joint missile development program with the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
which was rejected.
In 1979, the country took the first step into manufacturing by reverse engineering Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
RPG-7
The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Th ...
, BM21
The BM-21 "Grad" (russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit= hail) is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first comb ...
, and SA-7 missiles.
After the Islamic revolution and the start of the Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...
, economic sanctions and an international arms embargo led by the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
coupled with a high demand for military hardware forced Iran to rely on its domestic arms industry for repair and spare parts. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
was put in charge of re-organising the domestic military industry. Under their command Iran's military industry was dramatically expanded, and with the Ministry of Defence pouring capital into the missile industry, Iran soon had an arsenal of missiles.
Since 1992, it also has produced its own tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, a submarine and a fighter plane.
In 2007, following events in Iran's Nuclear Program
The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facili ...
, the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Security Council placed sanctions on Iran
There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its inva ...
forbidding it from exporting any form of weapons. Despite these sanctions, Iran sold some military equipment to countries such as Sudan, Syria and North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
. Iran was also unable to import military equipment such as S-300 from Russia and went on to build its own substitute dubbed as Bavar 373
Bavar-373 ( fa, باور-۳۷۳, meaning ''Belief'' and ''373'' being Abjad for ''یا رسولالله'' or ''O, Messenger of Allah!'') is an Iranian long-range road-mobile surface-to-air missile system unveiled in August 2016. Iran describes ...
.
On 2 November 2012, Iran's Brigadier General Hassan Seifi reported that the Iranian Army had achieved self-suffiency in producing military equipment, and that the abilities of Iranian scientists have enabled the country to make significant progress in this field. He was quoted saying, "Unlike Western countries which hide their new weapons and munitions from all, the Islamic Republic of Iran's Army is not afraid of displaying its latest military achievements and all countries must become aware of Iran's progress in producing weaponry." As of 2016, the Defence Ministry is collaborating with more than 3150 national firms as well as 92 universities.
Iran’s Defense Ministry claimed that it has begun manufacturing air defense laser cannons on 16 November 2019. On September 03, 2020, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami
Amir Hatami ( fa, امیر حاتمی) is an Iranian regular army (''Artesh'') officer with the rank of Brigadier general and Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces of Army Affairs and the former minister of defense of Iran. ...
said his country is capable of manufacturing more than 38,000 military equipment and hardware parts.
See also
*Industry of Iran
According to a report by ''The Economist'', Iran has been ranked 39th for producing $23 billion of industrial products in 2008. From 2008 to 2009 Iran has leaped to 28th place from 69th place in annual industrial production growth rate.
T ...
*Iran Aviation Industries Organization
The Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) ( fa, سازمان صنایع هوایی ایران, ''Sazman-e Sânai'-ye Havaii-ye Iran''), also known as the Aerospace Industries Organization, is an Iranian state-owned corporation established ...
* Defense Industries Organization (DIO)
*Iran Electronics Industries (IEI)
''Sânai'-ye Elâktrunik-e Iran''
, logo = SAIran.svg
, logo_size = 200px
, type = State-owned
, foundation =
, location_city = Tehran
, location_country = Iran
, area_served = Iran
, industry ...
Notes
External links
IRAN Defence Products
Defense Industries Organization
Iran Electronics Industries
Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization
Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company
Iran Defence links and news
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Defense Industry Of Iran
Defence companies of Iran
Manufacturing companies of Iran
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
Industry in Iran
Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics of the Islamic Republic of Iran