Irans Military Forces and Warfighting Capabilities: The Threat in the Northern Gulf (Praeger Security International)

Nations around the world are uncertain and anxious about Irans intentions in the Middle East and the wider global arena. Its current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made no secret of his opposition to Western society, particularly Israel, and his desire to acquire nuclear weapons. However, as Anthony Cordesman and Martin Kleiber point out, Ahmadinejad does not necessarily speak for the Iranian clerical regime, who operate in a cloud of secrecy and also directly control Irans military. Given the ambiguous nature of Irans global objectives, this new study focuses on the tangible aspects of Irans military forces and takes an objective look at the realistic threats that Iran poses the region and the world. The authors systematically assess each aspect of Iranian military forces from their conventional armies to their asymmetric threat via proxy wars in the region. Much attention in national security debates is paid to Irans intentions without first understanding its capabilities. Lacking such a fundamental understanding, much of this speculation tends to be wasted and irrelevant to what could actually happen in the event of a conflict. Cordesman and Kleibers study provides, in meticulous detail, a basis for understanding the realistic threat that Iran poses the Northern Gulf.

Author: Anthony H. Cordesman, Martin Kleiber

Language: English

Binding: Hardcover

Pages: 288

Publisher: Praeger

Publication Date: 2007-09-30