At the beginning of the new year of 2024, when everyone is still talking about the outcome of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Iran has turned itself into a new focus in the Middle East with a **.
According to Xinhua News Agency, on the fourth anniversary of the attack on Iran's senior general Soleimani, two incidents occurred one after another near the Soleimani cemetery in Kerman's hometown of Soleimani.
Due to the commemoration of Soleimani being held at the ** place at that time, a large number of people gathered, which caused a lot of **. The death toll alone is as high as 84, with nearly 300 others injured.
It is said that Iran is a well-known flat-headed brother in the Middle East, and he is afraid of the air in the Middle East, and he has never even paid attention to the United States. But we have the impression that Iran's toughness seems to be manifested only in words. From the attack on Soleimani four years ago to Kerman** today, Iran seems to be being bullied in vain every time.
Of course, Iran's hard-mouthed mouth is most obvious in the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and although Iran has repeatedly made harsh remarks about Israel, it seems that it has never heard its voice and has not seen its deeds.
So many people actually think that Iran is just a strong-mouthed king, don't look at the usual screaming more powerful than anyone else, if it really comes to the time of being strong, most of them will have to be exposed.
However, I think such an evaluation is still biased. Perhaps Iran is not a world-class power at present, and it can go head-to-head with a global leader like the United States. But in the Middle East, Iran still has some influence, and no one can easily ignore it.
You must know that Iran is one of the most capable countries in the Middle East, and its arrogant military force can almost be called a standout in the Middle East, even against Israel, which is known as the little bully of the Middle East, it can not fall behind. For example, in the latest global military power ranking of the "Global Firepower Index", Iran ranks 17th, just one place higher than Israel.
In fact, we can also get a more intuitive understanding of Iran's military strength from some of the key military data given by the **.
For example, in terms of troop data, according to the statistics of the "Global Firepower Index", Iran currently has about 10150,000 armed forces, of which the number of active standing troops is 57There are about 50,000 people, plus about 440,000 reservists and other paramilitary forces.
For comparison, the total strength of the armed forces currently possessed by Israel is about 6460,000 people, of which the number of active standing troops is 17About 30,000 people.
Another example is the equipment data, also according to the statistics of the "Global Firepower Index", the Iranian army is currently equipped with more than 100 **, more than 500 aircraft, more than 4,000 tanks, more than 2,500 artillery pieces, and more than 1,000 sets of various missile launch vehicles.
In contrast, the Israeli army is currently equipped with more than 60 aircraft, more than 2,200 tanks, more than 900 artillery pieces, and about 300 sets of various missile launchers.
From the comparison of these above data, it is not difficult to find that the current size of Iran's military is significantly larger than that of Israel. In particular, the armed forces of a million-strong army, even on a global scale, are not to be underestimated. However, although the size of Iran's army is considerable, the level of quality is not flattering.
Especially the equipment situation of the Iranian army, which is even worse to the extreme, there are old antiques everywhere, and there are a lot of crooked melons and cracked dates. There is no comparison with Israel, which has a world-class level of equipment.
For example, in the air, the Iranian Air Force is equipped with the most advanced fighters F-14 and MiG-29, which are just products of the Cold War. Not to mention the backward configuration performance, the service time is still long, and it has long been the age to retire.
In contrast, the Israeli Air Force not only has mainstream fourth-generation aircraft such as the F-16 as the main force, but also the most advanced fifth-generation aircraft such as the F-35 to support the façade. Its air lineup is so luxurious that it is impossible to find a few in the world, and it is even more indisputable to deal with Iran.
Another example is on land, although the main battle tanks currently equipped by the Iranian ground forces are huge, there are few good things, and they are basically old antiques. Even the most capable T-72 was a product of almost half a century ago, and there is still a big gap in combat power from the current mainstream tanks.
In contrast, the "Merkava" series of main battle tanks currently equipped by the Israeli Army, although they are not the top in the world, are all third-generation main battle tanks. Therefore, the overall level of combat power of the Israeli armored forces is definitely far ahead of Iran.
To measure whether an army is strong or not, the level of quality is very important. And the Iranian army, which is backward in terms of equipment, can obviously hardly be called a high-quality army. Especially compared with the Israeli army, which has an advanced level of equipment, although Iran can occupy an absolute advantage in the size of the army, it is difficult to gain the upper hand in the actual confrontation.
This is also an important reason why Iran's military size is much larger than Israel's, but its military strength ranking is about the same as Israel's. At the same time, those who look down on Iran's military strength and think that Iran is nothing more than a paper tiger have come to a conclusion based on this.
It is undeniable that the backward outdated equipment is indeed a major shortcoming of the Iranian army, which greatly reduces Iran's military deterrence. But Iran also has its own advantages, or hole cards.
For example, Iran is a country with a certain military-industrial base. Since the end of the seventies of the last century, after falling out with the United States, due to years of sanctions and suppression by the United States, Iran's first-class equipment imports are very difficult, and they can only rely on themselves. After decades of hard work, Iran has established a relatively mature defense industry system.
At present, Iran can produce many mainstream equipment on its own, including tanks, ** and missiles. It may not be technologically advanced, but at least it has basic equipment self-sufficiency to ensure that the Iranian military has the ability to conduct a sustainable war. This is undoubtedly a great success for a country's military development.
In particular, Iran can manufacture missiles in large quantities with long-range strike capabilities, which is definitely a great threat to their sworn enemies in the Middle East. Especially for a country like Israel, which has a small territory and lacks sufficient strategic depth, once Iran adopts a covering land-washing strike, even if Israel has an "iron dome" defense, it is estimated that it will have to drink a good pot. This is why Iran dares to say harsh words about Israel from time to time, clamoring to wipe Israel off the map**.
Another example is that Iran is a country rich in resources. As we all know, the Gulf region is the world's largest energy treasure trove today, with extremely rich oil and gas resources. As a member of the Gulf countries, Iran's energy endowment will naturally not be bad.
According to data, Iran's proven reserves are as high as 158 billion barrels and natural gas reserves exceed 33 trillion cubic meters, both of which are among the top five in the world.
In addition, Iran's mineral resources are also very rich, not only complete variety, but also considerable reserves. Among them, the reserves of copper ore are as high as 3 billion tons, accounting for about 5% of the world's total reservesThe zinc ore reserves are as much as 2300 million tons, ranking first in the world.
If you look at the resource situation alone, Iran is definitely a proper local tyrant at present. If it weren't for the U.S. years of suppression and sanctions, Iran's life is estimated to be no worse than that of the surrounding Saudi tyrants. Of course, if we look at it from another angle, even after years of suppression, Iran can still live with its outstanding resource endowment, which also proves that Iran has a deep heritage.
From a military point of view, Iran's resource superiority can provide it with tremendous economic support, so that it will not be instantly overwhelmed by the huge consumption of the war. If Iran's own relatively independent defense industrial base is combined, then Iran's war potential will rise to a very high level. In the face of Israel, a country that is struggling to clean up Gaza, he can be consumed to death. Even the United States has to drink a pot.
In addition, we must know that Iran is the big brother of the Shiites today, and there are a lot of younger brothers under him, and there are many things that do not need their hands at all. For example, in this round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, just one Houthi has caused headaches for Israel and many Western countries, and they have also used Iran to make trouble for them.
Finally, Iran's geographical advantage is also very obvious. Looking at the map, we can clearly see that Iran is bordered by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south, and guards the Strait of Hormuz, the only way in and out of the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf is the "treasure trove of the world's oil", with extremely rich oil resources, almost half of the world's oil is extracted and shipped from here.
Just imagine, if Iran blockades the Strait of Hormuz, then the oil in the Persian Gulf will not be able to be transported by sea, and the world's oil ** is estimated to have to be shut down. And in this industrial age, when oil is still the main energy source, if this happens, then the whole world will have to suffer.
So in a sense, Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz is actually blocking the lifeline of the global economy, and the whole world has to see their faces.
So no matter who wants to move Iran, they have to think about the consequences, maybe they have the upper hand on the frontal battlefield with more advanced equipment, but Iran can rely on its own unique advantages to find a place elsewhere.
So in summary, Iran is actually a country with strong military strength and many hole cards, and it is not a paper tiger that only knows how to be strong. At least in this part of the Middle East, they are fully qualified to say all kinds of harsh words. And Iran is not just talking but not doing what everyone sees, in fact, Iran has been doing a lot of things in the Middle East over the years, but it is just that it has not been put on the surface.
It is no exaggeration to say that Iran has the final say in the chaos in the Middle East.