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. 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 ...

, 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 separate institution under command of the

supreme leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...

, 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,

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 ...

of military equipment. It annually exports military equipment manufactured in Iran to forces of countries such as Syria,

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

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 (the latter ceased in 2019), as well as non-state actors like Hezbollah. 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 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 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 rival ...

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

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