Iran ranks #25 of 170 militaries worldwide in 2026, with 610,000 active troops. The Iranian Army fields 6,676 ground vehicles, including 1,713 main battle tanks; the Air Force flies 659 aircraft, including 295 combat aircraft; the Navy operates 112 warships, including 2 submarines. Iran has no nuclear weapons.
| Domain | Strength | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force | 659 aircraft | 295 combat 160 helicopters 20 air bases |
| Islamic Republic of Iran Navy | 112 warships | 2 major combatants 2 submarines 8 naval bases |
| Ground Forces | 6,676 vehicles | 1,713 main battle tanks |
| Nuclear Forces | Acquiring | |
| Personnel | 610,000 active | 350,000 reserve 40,000 paramilitary |
| Pillar | Weight | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manpower | 10% | 71.1 | Active, reserve & paramilitary personnel |
| Ground forces | 20% | 52.7 | ARMS inventory power: armour & artillery by type and era, attack helicopters, armament |
| Naval power | 20% | 27.0 | SEAS inventory power: hulls by type, size and era, air wing, sustainment, armament |
| Air power | 25% | 38.0 | AIRS inventory power: aircraft by type and generation, enablers, armament |
| Nuclear deterrent | 10% | 10.4 | No declared nuclear capability |
| Defense budget | 15% | 40.1 | Annual spending, purchasing-power adjusted |
| Availability | modifier | ground ×1.01 · naval ×1.20 · air ×1.04 | Budget per point of each force, from the branch indexes |
| Population | 91.6M (2024) |
| GDP | $475.3 billion (2024) |
| GDP per capita | $5,190 |
| Military budget | $9.5B (2024) |
| Share of GDP | 2.0% (2024) |
| Military spending per capita | $104 (2024) |
| Inflation rate | 32.46% (2024) |
| Capital | Tehran |
| Region | Asia |
| Land area | 1,531,595 km² |
| Coastline | 2,440 km |
| Land borders | 5,440 km |
| Bordering countries | 7 |
| Currency | IRR |
Iran’s defense posture is shaped by a regional rivalry with Israel and the presence of United States military assets in the Middle East. The primary security objective is the preservation of the clerical-political system and the maintenance of territorial integrity. To achieve this, Tehran employs a "forward defense" doctrine, which utilizes a network of non-state actors—collectively known as the Axis of Resistance—in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen to project influence and establish a buffer zone.
Iran is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS group. Its strategic depth is increasingly supported by a deepening military-technical partnership with Russia, formalized through long-term cooperation agreements that include intelligence sharing and joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman. A 25-year strategic agreement with China encompasses economic and security cooperation, focusing on maritime stability and infrastructure.
The Iranian military is characterized by a dual-command structure consisting of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Artesh) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Artesh is responsible for conventional territorial defense, while the IRGC focuses on internal security and asymmetric regional operations. Both report to the Supreme Leader through the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
Total active personnel are approximately 610,000, including 350,000 in the Artesh and 190,000 in the IRGC. The Basij paramilitary force serves as a large-scale mobilization reserve, with several hundred thousand members available for internal security and auxiliary roles.
Ground Forces:
Air and Air Defense Forces:
Naval Forces:
Specialized Capabilities:
The Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) manages the domestic defense industrial base through state-owned entities such as the Defense Industries Organization (DIO) and the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO). The industry is largely self-sufficient in the production of missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and small arms.
Key indigenous programs include:
Iran maintains an active defense export program, providing UAV technology and missile components to Russia and several nations in Africa and South America. Production lines focus on high-quantity, low-cost asymmetric assets to offset gaps in conventional aviation and heavy armor.
The 2025 and 2026 defense budgets reflect a shift toward high-technology modernization, with increased allocations for the IRGC’s aerospace and cyber divisions. Defense spending is estimated at approximately 3% of GDP, though this figure excludes extra-budgetary funding derived from oil quotas and commercial activities.
Doctrinal shifts emphasize "deterrence by punishment," utilizing precision-guided munitions and drone swarms to target an adversary's critical infrastructure. Iran is also expanding its space-based capabilities, using the Simorgh and Ghaem-100 launch vehicles to deploy military communication and reconnaissance satellites. Modernization priorities include the acquisition of Russian Mi-28 attack helicopters and the development of long-range cruise missiles to extend the country's operational strike range.
Iran's army said it attacked Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates with drones on August 31, 2026. The Emirati defense ministry denied the base was targeted and said its air force engaged a drone approaching from Iran.
The United States decommissioned its four Bahrain-based Avenger-class mine hunters in September 2025 and shipped the hulls home in January 2026. When Iran began mining the Strait of Hormuz two months later, the Navy had to sail two of its last four minesweepers from Japan.
General Atomics has entered a clean-sheet drone called Wildfire into the Pentagon's Massed Modular Aircraft competition to replace the MQ-9 Reaper, a fleet that fell from 231 aircraft to 165 this year after 46 US Reaper losses in the war with Iran.
Record carrier deployments, a western Pacific without a flat deck, two-thirds of the Patriot stockpile expended and a defense strategy that ranked the Middle East behind two other theaters: an assessment of what the 2026 Iran conflict has cost the US force.
The US Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier is transiting the Strait of Malacca toward the Arabian Sea to relieve USS Abraham Lincoln, at sea for more than 240 consecutive days supporting operations against Iran.
GlobalMilitary.net fleet records attribute 30 Islamic Republic of Iran Navy hulls to the war that began on February 28, 2026. Every frigate and every corvette on the fleet list is marked sunk, leaving the regular navy without a single blue-water surface combatant.
135 commercial ship transits of the Strait of Hormuz were recorded in the 30 days through August 23, 2026. Daily activity data, incident log and force balance, updated from official reports.