Iran's Military Strategy & Power Projection - Drones, Proxies & Production under Sanctions

Compared to many of the other militaries we’ve looked at, Iran’s force structure and overarching strategy stands out.

From its arsenal of Shah era weapons to its new generation of missiles, in this episode we did a bit deeper into Iran’s military capabilities, limitations, and the industrial capabilities behind them.

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Relevant Reading/sourcing
Platform figures per MB2022 as always for sake of consistency with my other works.

IMF data on Iran
https://www.imf.org/external/datamapp...

IAEA Director General’s Statement on Verification in Iran
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/press...

Reporting on the IRGC vs Artesh budget
https://www.defensenews.com/global/mi...

CSIS – The Iranian Missile Threat – Anthony Cordesman
https://www.csis.org/analysis/iranian...

CSIS – Missile Defence Project Iran
https://missilethreat.csis.org/countr...

Iran friendly fire incident
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...

IAEA head on Iran
https://www.reuters.com/world/world-m...

Featured Times article on IRGC in Syria
https://time.com/90807/iran-syria-rev...

IAEA reporting on Iran (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-...

Iran missile test
https://apnews.com/article/iran-khorr...

FP – Iran is filling Armenia’s power vacuum
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/12/01/...

Reporting on Saudi-Iran détente
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/12/...

Fakour images
https://irangeomil.blogspot.com/2018/...

French statement on Iran’s nuclear program
https://onu.delegfrance.org/we-remain...

CRS Reports:
Iran and Nuclear Weapons Production
https://crsreports.congress.gov/produ...

Iran’s Nuclear Program – compliance with international obligations
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/nuke/R40094.pdf

Iran’s Nuclear Program and U.N. Sanctions Reimposition
https://crsreports.congress.gov/produ...

Michael Eisenstadt – IISS - Iran after Sanctions: Military Procurement and Force-Structure Decisions
https://www.iiss.org/globalassets/med...

Michael Eisenstadt - Iranian military developments and trends
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/m...

Iran’s Foreign and Defence Policies
https://crsreports.congress.gov/produ...

Iran – Background and U.S. Policy
https://crsreports.congress.gov/produ...

Shaan Shaikh – CSIS – Iranian missiles in Iraq
https://www.csis.org/analysis/iranian...

CSIS - The Iranian and Houthi War against Saudi Arabia
https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaw...

Reuters on Iran backing Iraqi militia
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-...

Khamenei praising Basij
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-...

Reporting on the 2017 Iran political rift
https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...

UK House of Commons Briefing on Iran’s nuclear program
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/...


IranM2 data
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator...

Included article on sanctions sunset
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/18/po...

Included article on Iran drone production
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...

Source on included F-4 image
https://www.key.aero/article/how-does...

Caveats & Comments:
All normal caveats and comments apply.
In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes only.

Timestamps
00:00:00 — Opening Words
00:01:26 — What Am I Talking About?
00:02:04 — History
00:09:24 — Position And Strategy
00:16:25 — The Force
00:28:47 — The Proxies
00:38:22 — Economy And Defence Production
00:49:40 — Production And Sanctions Busting
00:57:37 — Missiles And Drones
01:10:34 — Conclusion
01:11:30 — Channel Update