The Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL; fa, وزارت دفاع و پشتیبانی نیروهای مسلح, vezarat-e defa' va poshtibani-ey niruha-ye mosallah) is the
defence ministry of the
Islamic Republic of 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 ...
and part of the country's
executive branch
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state.
In poli ...
. It thus reports to the
President of Iran
The president of Iran ( fa, رئیسجمهور ایران, Rayis Jomhur-e Irān) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The president is the second highest-ranking official of Iran after the Supreme Leader.
The president i ...
, not to the
Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces
The position of Commander-in-Chief (''Farmandehe Koll-e Qova'' ( fa, فرمانده کل قوا), formerly known as ''Bozorg Arteshtārān'' ( fa, بزرگارتشتاران) is the ultimate authority of all the Armed Forces of Iran, and the h ...
.
Unlike many countries, the ministry is not involved with in-the-field military operational command of the armed forces. Instead it is responsible for planning, logistics and funding of the
Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in ...
while the
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
, a separate institution under command of the
supreme leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the List of heads of state of Iran, head of state of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, executiv ...
, has control over the forces. The MODAFL is also the major player in
defense industry of Iran
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:
S ...
, with multiple conglomerates and subordinates active in
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
,
maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
and
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
of military equipment. It annually exports
military equipment manufactured in Iran to forces of countries such as
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
and
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
(the latter ceased in 2019), as well as non-state actors like
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
.
The ministry is considered one of the three "sovereign" ministerial bodies of Iran due to nature of its work at home and abroad.
History
1952–53: Reforms under Mossadegh
When
Mohammad Mossadegh took over the ministry on 21 July 1952, he initiated a series of reforms in the ministry. He named general
Ahmad Vossough
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ve ...
as his deputy and renamed the ministry from 'War' to 'National Defense', cut the
military budget
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing militar ...
by 15% and vowed to only purchase defensive military equipment.
Two investigatory commissions were formed, one for examining previous
promotions and the other for materiel procurement.
Under Mossadegh, some 15,000 personnel were transferred from the army to the
gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
and 136 officers, including 15 general officers, were purged.
1970s procurement
1982–89: Two ministries
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 ...
had between 1982 and 1989 its own dedicated defence ministry, mirroring the existing ministry of defence which solely supplied the
Islamic Republic of Iran Army
, founded =
, current_form = (Islamic Republic)
, disbanded =
, branches =
, headquarters = Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Tehran
, website =
, commander-in-chief = Maj. Gen. ...
during this period. Under President
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...
in 1989, the two ministries were merged into one in order to cease parallel work and reduce
interservice rivalry
Interservice rivalry is the rivalry between different branches of a country's armed forces, in other words the competition for limited resources among a nation's land, naval, coastal, air, and space forces. The term also applies to the rivalr ...
.
Subordinates
Iranian military industry, under the command of Ministry of Defence, is composed of the following main components:
In August 2018, the Iranian Ministry of Defense declared it had unloaded its shares in
Wagon Pars
Wagon Pars (in Persian language, Persian: شرکت واگن پارس, ''Sherkat-e Vâgon Pars'') is an Iranian train and locomotive manufacturer established in 1974, in Arak, Iran, Arak. Products include locomotives, trains, metros, freight an ...
and
Iran Airtour
Iran Airtour ( fa, ایران ایرتور, ''Iran Airtur'') is an airline based in Tehran, Iran. Iran Airtour's Airline hub, hubs are at Mehrabad International Airport and Mashhad International Airport. In total, the group has 11 aircraft in se ...
. In November 2020, the head of the Research and Innovation Organisation of the defence ministry, the nuclear physicist
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi ( fa, محسن فخریزاده مهابادی ;195827 November 2020) was an Iranian nuclear physicist and scientist. He was regarded as the chief of Iran's nuclear program.
Born in Qom in 1958, Fakhrizadeh joine ...
, was assassinated in an ambush near Tehran.
Top Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated near Tehran
''Aljazeera.com'', 27 November 2020
Ministers of Defence since 1979
, -
! colspan="8" align="center" , Minister of National Defence
, -
! colspan="8" align="center" , Minister of Defence
, -
! colspan="8" align="center" , Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics
See also
* Military budget of Iran
References
Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL)
Anthony H. Cordesman, Iran's military forces in transition
External links
1989 establishments in Iran
Defence
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense indus ...
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 ...
Iran, Defence
Military of Iran
Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics of the Islamic Republic of Iran
{{Iran-mil-stub