Armed Forces of the State of Iran

[b][align=center][img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Lion_and_Sun_%28Pahlavi_Dynasty%29.svg/300px-Lion_and_Sun_%28Pahlavi_Dynasty%29.svg.png[/img]
[background-block=#008040][size=300][font=Georgia][color=white]The State of Iran[/color][/font][/size]
[size=250][font=Georgia][color=white]کشور ایران[/color][/font][/align][/size][/b]
[/background-block] [box][align=center][font=Helvetica][size=160][b]Offical Factbooks[/b]
[url=https://www.nationstates.net/nation=persagonian_republic/detail=factbook/id=main][color=green]Home[/color][/url] | [color=green][url=https://www.nationstates.net/nation=persagonian_republic/detail=factbook/id=1396525]Overview[/url][/color] | [color=green]Leaders (WIP)[/color] | [color=green][b]Military[/b][/color] | [color=green][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1008643]States[/url][/color] | [color=green][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1009204]Gallery[/url][/color][/size][/font][/align][/box]

[floatright][font=Helvetica][box][center][background-block=#008040][b][color=white][size=135]Iranian Armed Forces
ارتش‎[/size][/color][/b][/background-block][/center][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MSW1iVT.png[/img][/center]

[center][b]Insignia of the Iranian Armed Forces[/b][/center][hr]
[b]Founded:[/b] 8 January 1922

[b]Current Form:[/b] 10 April 1980

[b]Service Branches:[/b]
[list]
[color=#008040]Iranian Ground Force
Iranian Navy
Iranian Air Force[/color]
[/list]

[b]Headquarters:[/b] Tehran, Iran

[center][background-block=#008040][b][color=white]Leadership[/color][/b][/background-block][/center]

[b]Commander-in-Chief:[/b] Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

[b]Minister of Defense:[/b] Maj. General Ali Neshat

[b]Chief of the General Staff:[/b] General Massoud Eskandari

[center][background-block=#008040][b][color=white]Manpower[/color][/b][/background-block][/center]

[b]Military Age:[/b] 18 years old

[b]Conscription:[/b] 2 years

[b]Active military personnel:[/b] 
300,000 active personnel (circa. 1980)

[b]Reserve military personnel:[/b] 
120,000 reserve personnel (circa. 1980)

[center][background-block=#008040][b][color=white]Expenditures[/color][/b][/background-block][/center]

[b]Budget:[/b] $82.150 billion

[b]Percentage of GDP:[/b] 2.2%

[center][background-block=#008040][b][color=white]Industry[/color][/b][/background-block][/center]

[b]Domestic suppliers:[/b] 
[spoiler=[font=Helvetica]Defense Companies[/font]][list][color=#008040]Kabir Arms Company
Shah Ornaments Industry
Gilgamesh Defense Systems
Khodro Automotive
Sahar Transportation Incorporated
Jahangir Electronics and Innovation
Bakhtiari Aviation Industries
Parvaneh Aeronautics Corporation
Persagonian State Aviation (PSA)
Jazayeri Naval Engineering[/color]
[/list][/spoiler]

[b]Annual exports:[/b] $187 million
[/box][/font][/floatright]

[size=180][b][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Iranian Armed Forces[/color][/font][/b][/size]
[hr] [font=Helvetica][size=130]The [b]Iranian Armed Forces[/b] or the [b]Artesh[/b] (Army in Farsi) is the unified armed forces of the State of Iran since 1922. It is responsible for the defense and maintenance of Iran's territorial integrity was well as to exert its influence or safeguard foreign interest if necessary. The Iranian Armed Forces consists of the Iranian Ground Force (along the Immortals), the Iranian Navy, the Iranian Air Force, and the intelligence agency SAVAMA. With the prefix "Imperial" being removed after the NEQAB coup of 1980. The current Armed Forces was built on the remains of the Islamic Republic of Iran's "Artesh" after a massive purge conducted by Khomeini left it at a state of disarray. Peculiarly, the Armed Forces isn't put under civilian oversight as its Defense Minister came from the military. The restored Shah is the Commander-in-Chief or the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces in theory. In practice, General Massoud Eskandari holds the most influence in government as well as the military by virtue of holding the position of Imperial Regent and Chief of the General Staff at the same time. The Iranian military has been heavily involved the politics of the country under the guise of "Political Tutelage" and they've established themselves as a moral savior and defender of the country. As "Defenders of the White Revolution"; the military has every right to depose governments which steers to the Islamic right that pose a threat to "Iranian secularity" under dubious reasons. The military may just be the barrier to achieving true democracy in Iran.[/size][/font]

[font=Helvetica][size=130]The modern history of the Iranian Armed Forces came to be when Reza Shah took over Iran after the Constitutional Revolution and established an unified armed forces during an era where the country was lawless and ruled by rowdy Khans. Then the entire Armed Forces crumbled at the sight of a joint Soviet - British invasion in 1941. On 1953, the Armed Forces was instrumental in the Mordad Coup of 1953 when it overthrew the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh. During the 60s and 70s at the backdrop of economic prosperity; the Shah embarked on a massive weapons purchasing spree of America and Britain. They offered the Shah the most advanced piece of military hardware they could offer. However, the Imperial Iranian military sullied their image when units shoot the protesters during the Black Friday massacre during the Iranian Revolution. The Imperial Armed Forces would paralyze when the Shah left the country and they surrendered to Imam Khomeini. Under Khomeini, the state of the Iranian military (the Artesh) was in disarray and in the gutters when Khomeini purged most of its higher-up officers and replaced them with inexperienced loyalists. It wasn't until the NEQAB coup of 1980 that the military was reorganized for its upcoming war against Iraq in 1981.[/size][/font]

[font=Helvetica][size=130]Today, the Iranian Armed Forces is in a disorganized state ever since Khomeini purged its "experienced" officers after the Revolution. The cause of the NEQAB coup was due to the purge itself as well as the interservice rivalry between the IRGC and the Artesh. The Armed Forces would face the task of training its junior officers to fill the void left by senior leaders as well as preparing its forces to defend Iran from an Iraqi invasion in 1981. Sensing political instability in Iran after two successive regime changes. Not only that, they have trouble in the homefront as the Islamist Quds and Marxist MEK are waging an insurgency against the government during the Iranian Insurgency. The Armed Forces may have all the advanced Western weapons that her neighbors could only envy yet it could prove futile if they don't have the experts to utilize them.[/size][/font][color=white]-

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[b][size=150][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]History[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [font=Helvetica][size=130][floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vstO0Qc.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]The Iranian Army Under Reza Shah[/b][/center][/box][/floatright] When the Pahlavi dynasty came to power on 1925, the Qajar dynasty was already weak from years of war with Russia. To the point that even zones of influence was established between the British in the south and Russia to the north. The standing Persian army was almost non-existent and the country lacked centralization. Persia was like the Middle Eastern wild west and the countryside was ruled by unruly khans as well as nomads. The Cossacks provided defense for Persia. The new king Reza Shah Pahlavi, was quick to develop a new military, the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces and centralize the country after years of mismanagement under the Qajars. In part, this involved sending hundreds of officers to European and American military academies. With the ESM in France being the most popular. It also involved having foreigners re-train the existing army within Iran. In this period a national air force (the Imperial Iranian Air Force) was established and the foundation for a new navy (the Imperial Iranian Navy) was laid.

Following Germany's invasion of the USSR in June 1941, Britain and the Soviet Union became allies. Both saw the newly opened Trans-Iranian Railroad as a strategic route to transport supplies from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union and were concerned that Reza Shah Pahlavi was sympathetic to the Axis powers, despite his declaration of neutrality. In August 1941, Britain and the USSR invaded Iran and deposed him in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi after a quick invasion where most of the imperial military's defenses crumbled at the front of their might. Following the end of the Second World War, both countries withdrew their military forces from Iran yet the Soviet Union maintained a presence in the north. This would culminate into the Azerbaijan Crisis of 1946 when the Soviets established puppet governments in Iranian Azerbaijan (People's Government of Iran) and Iranian Kurdistan (Socialist Republic of Kurdistan). The Soviets under Bukharin would only withdraw after pressure by the United Nations.

[floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XlODZQf.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]The Shah During a Military Parade[/b][/center][/box][/floatleft]

Following a number of clashes in April 1969, international relations with Iraq fell into a steep decline, mainly due to a dispute over the Shatt al-Arab (called Arvand) waterway in the 1937 Algiers Accord. Iran abrogated the 1937 accord and demanded a renegotiation which ended completely in its favor. Furthermore, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi embarked on an unprecedented modernization program for the Iranian armed forces. In many cases Iran was being supplied with advanced weaponry even before it was supplied to the armed forces of the countries that developed it. During this period of strength Iran protected its interests militarily in the region: in Oman, the Dhofar Rebellion was crushed when the Shah supported Qaboos against Marxist rebels and in Vietnam: it was rumored that the Iranian military had a presence in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In November 1971, Iranian forces seized control of three uninhabited but strategic islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf; Abu Musa and the Tunb islands. Then around 1973, they sent a contingent to neighboring Baluchistan in order to keep the peace in the region.

The Iranian military would face a crisis that would change the course of Iran forever when in 1979, the Iranian Revolution erupted and mass protests sprung up across the country against Iran's economic inequality and the Shah's corruption. The Iranian military struggled to keep order in the streets as they were not trained in counter-riot dispersals nor were they equipped with riot equipment such as tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. Bullheadedly, military commanders issued orders to shoot at protesters and this resulted in a thousand dead during the Black Friday massacre. This eroded in the public's trust for the military institution. Then in November, the Shah declared martial law and put military officers in his cabinet although with the explicit orders of not using force in dispersing the crowd. Then by January of 1979, the Shah left Iran (leaving Bakhtiar as PM) and the military was left to fend for itself. Military officers in the Regency Council began to negotiate with Khomeini behind Bakhtiar's back and the Imperial Guards did not intervene to save Bakhtiar when the revolutionaries stormed the palace on February. By then the monarchy fell and the military was left at the mercy of Khomeini.

[floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/k1gdUhr.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Pro-NEQAB Tanks Rolling Into Tehran[/b][/center][/box][/floatright]

Under Khomeini, a military purge against "un-Islamic" and "disloyal" elements of the military began after the Revolution ended. The Shah-era commanders of the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, the SAVAK director, and the Tehran military governor were executed in revolutionary tribunals. Leaving a large void in the senior leadership that were filled by middle-ranking loyalists of the Islamic republic who did not necessarily have military expertise or competence. The rank-and-file soldiers were personally affected as their once lax way of life of skipping prayers, fast, and having unveiled wives were disrupted by the Islamic morality police. The Khomeini's regime alienation of former political allies, economic mismanagement, heavy-handed Islamic cultural revolution, then massive military purges led to the NEQAB coup conspired by the Gang of Four in July 1980. The coup then turned into a popular revolution supported by defecting rank-and-file soldiers as well as the Iranian middle-class. However by this point when the Four rose to power; the entire Iranian government and military was left at a state of chaos. The reign of terror was short yet so devastating. The Gang of Four could only enact reforms at such a small window space as the threat of an Iraqi invasion looms in 1981.[/font][/size] 

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Personnel and Recruitment[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [font=Helvetica][size=100][floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OC2RGIl.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Fresh Iranian Conscripts[/b][/center][/box][/floatright] Iran maintains a system of conscription for ages 18 until 30 since 1979 when it became apparent that Iraq under President Abdul Karim Qasim would invade Iran over the waterways and Khuzestan. Military service only lasts for 2 years and the penalties of avoiding a military draft would be either flogging or imprisonment under charges of "treason" if at war. The conscription policy for college students and the unemployed managed to increase the military's numbers to around 200 thousand. Iranian recruitment often used nationalist and religious rhetoric in recruiting the young into war. The Battle of Karbala and martyrdom of past Shia figures are used national myths to inspire Iranians. The rhetoric of martyrdom was used extensively during the Iran-Iraq War in order to raise morale. Recruitment posts were nearly everywhere in the country such as in the universities, workplaces, and clubs. With recruiters promising generous state pensions, good wages, and the "chance of going to heaven". Unfortunately, teenagers as young as 16 fought in the conflict in the frontlines when they lied about their age. It was said that 800,000 Iranians (including the old and Islamist political prisoners were called in) fought against Iraq during the war and they sustained a casualty of 200,000 dead. The young as well as the old died in what was the Middle East's Great War.[/font][/size]

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Military Rankings[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9G7EvCb.png[/img][/center]

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Iranian Ground Force[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ARryUHd.png[/img] 
[font=Helvetica][b]Insignia of the IGF[/b][/font][/center][hr] [font=Helvetica][b]Size:[/b] 350,000 soldiers, 4,595 military vehicles,
1,342 artillery guns, and 508 helicopters
[b]Commander:[/b] General Abbas Gharabaghi
[b]Colors:[/b] Dark Green
[b]Part of:[/b] Iranian Armed Forces
[/font][/box][/floatleft]

[font=Helvetica][size=100]The Iranian Ground Force or the IGF is the land force component of the Iranian Armed Forces established in 1980 after the NEQAB coup responsible for land-based military operations. The IGF is the largest of the Iranian Armed Forces component as well as the most generously funded. There are 350,000 soldiers serving in the Ground Force and around 4,595 vehicles (APCs, MBTs, IFVs, etc.) as well as 1,342 artillery pieces. From 1922 until 1979, it operated under the name Imperial Iranian Ground Force and since then, the army removed the word "Imperial" from the prefix as is the case with all military components. Significant changes to the army came in the 60s and 70s when the Shah went on a purchasing spree of acquiring hundreds of M60s, Chieftains, M109s, and Soviet BTRs. 

Imperial Iran was able to assert herself as the dominant power of the Middle East and this massive arsenal was the factor in deterring Iraq in invading Iran. Through her military; Iran intervened in the Dharfour Rebellion in favor of the Omani monarchy as well as the Baluchistan Civil War. However the fall of the Shah and the ascension of Khomeini resulted in a massive officer purge which left the army paralyzed and their expertise gone over night which were necessary in maintaining some of the hardware. Then interservice rivalry occurred between the Army and the IRGC which put e spirit de corps at jeopardy. The NEQAB coup only exacerbated the situation when the conspirators purged Islamists and Khomeini loyalists once again. Leaving junior ranking officers taking middle management while Shah-era officers who survived the purge returning to their positions. Currently, there are 15 divisions in the IGF. 10 are infantry while 5 are armored/motorized.

[floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/W1jsLCF.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Iranian Soldiers During the Coup[/b][/center][/box][/floatright]

In spite of the two regime changes, political instability, and a shattered officer corps; the IGF remains one of the largest military in the Middle East as well as one of the best in spite of the many pitfalls and handicaps it has faced. The IGF command had manage to persevere through all of it. The IGF possesses one of the best military equipment that the West has to offer as well as a largely potent officer corps. Though many Iranian officers within the corps are promoted based on merit and experience; nepotism and corruption is still rife. The Ground Force is further divided into three sub-branches: the Imperial Guard, the Shahrbani, and the Basij. The Imperial Guard or the Immortals act as an elite force whose primary duties are to defend governmental offices and figures. The Immortals also acts as a spec-op force tasked with completing specific missions such as sabotage behind enemy lines, military raids, and much more. The Shahrbani was reorganized and it went from a city police into a military police force. Basically heavily militarized policemen trained for counter-riot operations [strike]as well as silencing political opponents[/strike]. The Basij was only founded in 1982 and it "unofficially" acted as a larger penal battalion of 200,000 men. Made out of former IRGC soldiers; they are used to provide support as well as manpower to throw at the Iraqis during the Iran - Iraq War.

[floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/K7pFfhs.png[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Iranian Immortals[/b][/center][/box][/floatleft]

As for tactics, the IGF began conducting internal reforms within its structures as well as operational doctrine. It began to seriously consider Iraq, Kurdistan and the Soviet Union to be a threat in addition to the spillovers from the Afghan Civil War. Nearly all of the officers are trained in France, Britain, Germany, and the US. Trained in mission-type tatics; they are expected to take initiatives in order to complete an objective in a mission through any means necessary as the situation demands it in order to adapt. The primary land doctrine of the IGF is "Concentrated Fire" as the brass puts it with an emphasis on artillery support and combined arms. Instead of fighting for every inch of land; units would pull a defense in depth tactical retreat and exploit vulnerable flanks instead of penetrating. Scouts would be utilized to study enemy positions and call in artillery bombardment to soften the enemy strength. Then they would be left vulnerable to brutal combined arms counter-attacks with shock and awe. 

As for defense; forts would be built throughout IDF positions to defend their positions and they would be supplied by air. They would act as pocket of resistance if cut off. The present realities of assymetric warfare in the Iranian Insurgency also called for COIN (counter-insurgency) training. Through any means necessary; the IDF would attempt to erode public support for the Quds/MEK and destroy rebel encampments in the mountains of the north and south.[/font][/size]

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Iranian Navy[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/AzYoUTm.png[/img] 
[font=Helvetica][b]Insignia of the IN[/b][/font][/center][hr] [font=Helvetica][b]Size:[/b] 20,000 seamen, 214 naval 
aircrafts and 80 vessels
[b]Commander:[/b] Rear Admiral Kamal Habibollahi
[b]Colors:[/b] White
[b]Part of:[/b] Iranian Armed Forces
[/font][/box][/floatleft]

[font=Helvetica][size=100]The Iranian Navy or the IN is the naval component of the Iranian Armed Forces responsible for maintaining the naval territorial integrity of Iranian waters as well as maintaining Iran's presence in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It is a blue water navy and the largest in the Persian Gulf. With 27 vessels, a personnel of 20,000 sailors and marines, as well as 80 naval aircrafts. The Iranian Navy could even project its influence into the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean if needed be. The Navy was responsible for the seizure of the Abu Musa and Tunb islands in addition to maintaining Iranian presence in the Caspian Sea dominated by the Soviets.

However, the Navy continues to be outshine by the more important Ground Force and Air Force. During the Iranian Revolution, the Navy was least affected during the Khomeinist officer purge and thus has been able to maintain its officer corps and operational capability. It is subdivided into two branches: the Takavaran and the Iranian Naval Aviation Corps (INAC) or Havadarya. The Takavarans are the light-infantry professional arm of the Iranian Navy responsible for conducting spec-op duties such as naval raids, amphibious assaults, and scouting. The INAC is responsible for supporting the navy from air such as doing AWACS and transportation duties. 

[floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/31oBl8s.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]The IIS [i]Reza Shah[/i] of the Invincible Class
Iran Has One Carrier, Acquired in 1986[/b][/center][/box][/floatright]

The Shah used oil money to purchase state of the art British, Dutch, and German naval ships such as frigates, destroyers and corvettes in the 70s. In 1985, Iran acquired a naval carrier from Britain. Hovercrafts are more abundant in the navy's arsenal as they are used for fighting in marshes and avoiding land mines. The Iranian Navy is divided into three fleets: the 1st Fleet consists of destroyers and frigates that operate on the Persian Gulf for ASW and anti-piracy purposes, the 2nd Fleet consists of submarines operating in the Indian Ocean, and the 3rd Fleet consists of smaller missile crafts, coastal patrol ships, hovercrafts, and minesweepers.

The Navy's primary doctrine is quite similar to the Hearts of Iron IV's concept of Fleet in Being with elements of Trade Interdiction. The Navy's destroyers, frigates, and corvettes would focus on defeating enemy warships through sheer firepower alone in search and destroy missions. Corvettes armed with anti-submarine weapons would be used for ASW missions in the Indian Ocean in order to protect Iran's and international oil shipments coming from the Persian Gulf. While frigates would focus on escorting ships and engage in anti-air warfare. Wolf packs of submarines would be used to screen ships and likewise torpedo enemy ships and engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.[/font][/size]

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Iranian Air Force[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/AgYmksO.png[/img] 
[font=Helvetica][b]Insignia of the IAF[/b][/font][/center][hr] [font=Helvetica][b]Size:[/b] 50,000 airmen and
1,002 aircraft
[b]Commander:[/b] Lt. General Amir Hossein Rabii
[b]Colors:[/b] Dark Blue
[b]Part of:[/b] Iranian Armed Forces
[/font][/box][/floatleft]

[font=Helvetica][size=100]The Iranian Air Force or the IAF is the aerial component of the Iranian Armed Forces responsible for protecting the air space of Iran as well as conducting humanitarian works in UN missions in several unstable regions throughout the world. In war, the IAF would attempt to maintain air superiority in Iranian and enemy air space in addition to conducting bombing runs on enemy territory. The Air Force is the second strongest and largest military branch in the Armed Forces with 50,000 airmen/pilots and 1,002 aircraft all maintained by Homafars or technicians. They are the most vital for Iranian defense as they are tasked with defending Iranian infrastructure from foreign air raids. In addition to conducting humanitarian missions during the case of earthquakes.

In the 60s and 70s, the Shah likewise went on a purchasing spree at the backdrop of rising OPEC oil prices. He purchased F-4 Phantoms, F-5 Freedom Fighters, and even F-14 Tomcats to reinforce the bulk of the Air Force's arsenal. The Tomcat was an one of a kind fighter jet of its era and Iran was the only nation other than the US to own one. In the late 70s and resumed in the 80s, there were talks of acquiring F-16s and they only arrived in 1982 during the war. In 1983, the Iranian Air Force was reported to have sighted UFOs in Tehran air space. The formation of an Ufology branch had been discussed but was ultimately shelved when war broke out against Iraq.

[floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/aJuN2Ly.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Iranian F-14 Tomcats[/b][/center][/box][/floatright]

The IAF is divided into two sub-branches: Iranian Air Defense Corps or IADC and the Iranian NOHED Brigade. The IADC is responsible for the defense of key Iranian military and civil infrastructure in urban areas as well as counter-acting missiles. They operate the SAM units and AA guns. Iranian domestic manufacturing industry also developed its own surface-to-air missiles in reaction to Iraq's incessant bombing of Iranian cities during the war. The NOHED Brigade is often considered the Iranian Green Berets and they are similar to their American counterparts in having green berets as well as symbolism. The NOHED is an special operations, airborne unit of the Air Force. They would paratroop behind enemy lines, harass supply lines and enemy units, as well as counter-terrorism operations. The NOHED were trained by the British SAS and were involved in the Dhofar Rebellion, anti-drug operations in Baluchistan, and provided support for the SAS during the Iranian embassy siege of 1980. Most worryingly, the NOHED were spotted in Iraq and Lebanon where they advised both the Shia opposition in Iraq as well as the Kataeb in Lebanon. Now taking the role of the Quds in real life as they engage in asymmetric warfare.

[floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/JsswN3J.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Iranian Tomcat Pilots
Iran's Top Gun[/b][/center][/box][/floatleft]

Iran's Air Force was one of the strongest in the Middle East where they had state of the art aircraft such as the CH-47, P-3 Orion, the F-14, and Cobra helicopters in their possession. Their pilots were exceptionally trained as they were all trained in British military academies. In addition to field promotions being highly influenced by flight time and experience as well as constant war games designed to keep the Air Force in shape. After the Revolution, the IAF's operational capabilities and espirit de corps were in jeopardy. Many air force commanders and NCOs were purged by Khomeini's revolutionary committees while leaving inexperienced middle-ranking officers to take up the reins. The Air Force was one of the most loyal to the Shah and they were the most affected by the IRI's officer purge. The Air Force was effectively emasculated, its officer corps cut in size, as well as founding itself struggling to maintain its advanced American aircraft due to a temporary mechanical parts embargo. It wasn't until the NEQAB coup that the Air Force regained half of its strength. Though it remains a potent force; it would take several years for the Air Force to truly recover especially with war looming in the distance.

The Air Force's primary tactic is to provide air support for ground units in softening enemy resistance for shock-and-awe operations. Fighter jets (F-16 and F-14) would be used to dogfight against enemy fighters while interceptors (F-16s) would be used to defend Iran's air space from fighter-bombers and strategic bombers (especially Soviet Tupolevs). Fighter-bombers and strike fighters (F-4) would be used to bomb military sites with great precision. Light aircraft such as the F-5 were relegated to becoming trainers and recon aircrafts.[/font][/size]

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]SAVAMA[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/IeiWnSB.png[/img] 
[font=Helvetica][b]Insignia of the SAVAMA[/b][/font][/center][hr] [font=Helvetica][b]Size:[/b] 24,000 employees and informants
[b]Commander:[/b] Lt. General Gholan Khosravi
[b]Colors:[/b] Brown
[b]Part of:[/b] Iranian Ministry of Interior
[/font][/box][/floatleft]

[font=Helvetica][size=100]The SAVAMA (Sazman-e Ettela'at va Amniat-e Melli-e Iran) or the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran is the official domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the years of the "Reign of the Generals" as the successor to the Shah-era SAVAK. With a rumored personnel of 24,000 employees, officers and informants. It specializes in intelligence gathering, counter-intelligence, covert operations, and analysis. They are not subordinate to the military but rather the Ministry of Interior in which a SAVAMA officer holds the position. It's one of the Middle East's most potent intelligence agency with far-reaching influence and clandestine network of agents similar to the Israeli Mossad. 

The SAVAMA are responsible for the political assassination of Iranian dissidents in the OIPFG, MEK, and Quds,  as well as widespread surveillance of political activity in Iran. The intelligence apparatus has an unhealthy amount of influence on Iranian parliamentary politics under its Director and it is rumored that the SAVAMA has built a network of secular far-right political allies known as the Mazandaran deep state. In addition to being involved in a very shady counter-insurgency program known as Program Scimitar to fight against Marxist and Islamic rebels during the Persian Insurgency. Foreign SAVAMA agents were even in high places within the Iraqi and Kurdish government. Which meant that they could strike deep into the hearts of both the Iraqi and Kurdish government.

[floatright][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/phi8nEK.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]SAVAMA Officers Enjoying a 
Smoke With Mossad Operatives[/b][/center][/box][/floatright]

It operates both internally at a domestic level and internationally in other countries' affairs. The SAVAMA works closely with the British MI6, the American CIA, Turkish MiT, and the Israeli Mossad. However many left-wing and Islamist political opponents of the Gang of Four decry the SAVAMA as a mere continuation of the SAVAK as well as a "secret police". Ironically, the SAVAMA had its start in the Iranian Revolution under the Khomeini regime when the Islamic government executed the top SAVAK leadership and reorganized it into the larger SAVAMA. So the Khomeinists were responsible for the SAVAMA. The very monster they have created would soon dethrone them.

Ex-SAVAK officers and members co-ordinated the NEQAB coup which overthrew the same government that created them. The SAVAMA had its Islamist members purged and they were the one to remove the Sepah/Pasdaran (IRGC) during their brief rivalry with the Army (Artesh) in what was called the Iranian "Night of the Long Knives". Under its new Director, the SAVAMA rebranded itself into a new type of intelligence agency. They converted prison camps into "ideological re-education camps" and used forced labor of Islamist/Marxist opponents extensively in Evin prison. They also focused on outside of Iran. Extensively supporting the Kataeb regime in Lebanon, co-operated with the Turkish MiT in destabilizing Kurdistan, assassinating Iranian political opponents in Western Europe, and gave aid to the Afghan government in Kabul.

[floatleft][box][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6e7dNhv.jpg[/img][/center][hr] [center][b]Pictures of Islamist Political Opponents
Many Returned Home as Broken People[/b][/center][/box][/floatleft]

Unlike the SAVAK, they seldom used torture on prisoners but instead used psychological manipulation. Psychological manipulation which aimed to break the will of dissidents by socially isolating the target, break their faith in ideology or dogma using propaganda, in addition to changing public perception about something through perception management theory. The SAVAMA aimed to delegitimatize their opponents through subtle ways instead of using force. With their aim being to "get rid of political Islam" in Iran by the use of social engineering through their control of education and mass media.

Today, the SAVAMA remains a feared and hated institution even if the agency only marginally became less repressive and disavowed the use of physical torture. There are two notorious prisons which house political prisoners to the regime: Evin Prison and Gohardasht Prison. It was said that both prison housed 25,000 political prisoners from the Khomeini regime that were deemed to be "highly dangerous". They were subjected to hard labor, harsh prison conditions, as well as psychological manipulation aimed to break their convictions. 1,500 people die in those camps under "mysterious circumstances" in which all of it were officially labelled as "suicide" due to the psy-ops.[/size][/font]

[spoiler=[b]The SAVAMA's Psy-Ops and Methods[/b]][font=Helvetica][size=100]• The SAVAMA was deeply involved in the so-called [b]Program Scimitar[/b] or [b]Iran's Gladio[/b] through the clandestine governmental ministry known as the Ministry of Specialized Warfare (MSW). Program Scimitar was a joint US-Iranian effort in building up networks of stay-behind anti-Islamist/communist fighters in the event of a Soviet invasion. The far-right Pan-Iranist SUMKA and its paramilitary group, the GH (Guru Hamle) were heavily supported by the SAVAMA in harassing and assassinating political opponents. The SAVAMA and CIA gave them training and "lost" weapons. 

Scimitar also doubled as a counter-insurgency program with their aim being to "erode and delegitimatize the political strength and support base of insurgent groups" through "any means necessary". This is where the state actually began to sponsor terrorism against its own people. The MSW regularly had its agents dress up as Quds or MEK rebels conducting terrorist activities such as car bombings and assassinations in false flag attacks with the blame being put on both groups. The Hafte Tir bombing was an example of a false flag attack. This plays right in with the SAVAMA's perception management theory and strategy of tension. The attacks would erode the insurgents' support and would force the Iranian people to turn to the institution of the military for protection.

[b]•[/b] The SAVAMA had been accused of "social engineering" and "ideological subversion" when it aimed to remove Islamism from Iranian society and politics. They were responsible for the many scandals pertaining to Islamic political opponents by implicating in infidelity and sodomy scandals then magnifying it by exposing it in the Iranian press. It didn't had to be Islamists, any opponent of the SAVAMA were implicated. Public schools which the SAVAMA had influence in began teaching kids the glory of pre-Islamic Iran and casually slipped in historical revisionism. 

Mass media began airing Western shows to allure Iranians into embracing Westernization. Women, in particular, were being led to believe in Western standards of beauty and were encouraged to ditch the hijab for example. Many Shia clerics were being silenced by the agency and their sermons had to follow state-sanctioned ones with a chance of the attendees being a SAVAMA agent. The SAVAMA changed the connotations behind words into something new. "Mullah", "chador", and "Islamism" were associated with backwardness. According to the Director, he believed that the next generation who would grow up under them would be fully Westernized and follow their view of "Iranness". This was an example of KGB-style "Active measures" albeit on internal socio-politics.

[b]•[/b] The SAVAMA attempted to emulate the CIA model of MKULTRA when the agency began experimenting with brainwashing and "mind-altering" drugs in what was called [b]Project 80[/b]. Their aim being to "change a person's entire worldview and belief at a whim". LSD were regularly injected to the patient's meal and they were subjected to bright flashing objects to disorientate them. Heroins were used to sedate the patient and hypnosis was used to induce anxiety. Electroconvulsive therapy were extensively used twice the acceptable rate. This resulted in patients having geriatric problems, amnesia, mental trauma, and forgetting on how to speak a language. The project was shut down [i]in[/i] 2000 and became public knowledge in 2017.

[b]•[/b] Iran's SAVAMA employed Zersetzung-like tactics which involved abusive control and psychological manipulation in what was known as Program Huma. Program Huma entails psychological abuse on three levels: institution, groups, and individuals. Institutions such as the media and education were infiltrated to the brim by SAVAMA agents and informants up to the highest level. While infiltrated, agents would attempt to sway the institutions into the state's favor and deny "politically dangerous" individuals privileges. Such as migration, membership, health care, educations, sanctioning and much more.

On the group level, the SAVAMA would employ disgruntled members of a political group. Informants were either willing or unwilling due to personal or ideological reasons. The SAVAMA would attempt to sow internal division within that group by magnifying religious and political differences (thus creating internal factions) as well as creating power struggles within that group's leadership. Infiltrators regularly counter-proposed decisions and implicating others as "informants" even though they're not to blur the line between fiction and reality. False flag attacks were used such as stabbing a group leader from a differing internal faction to create an environment that fracturing and mass purging of its ranks could occur. Leading it to fragment even further to the point that they would be too divided to pose a threat to the government.The Tudeh Party and the OIPFG were victims of this.

On the individual level, the SAVAMA seeks to meddle into a political opponent's personal life and socially isolate them from their loved ones by undermining their family/love life as well as attacking the opponent's self-confidence and self-esteem. Huma seeks to intimidate and disorient the opponent through repeated disappointments that would lead them to having a crisis of faith in their beliefs. So they would be too emotionally distraught as well as psychologically distressed in engaging in political activism due to personal and mental issues. Homosexuality, niche interests, pornographic interests, divorce, alcoholism, professional failures and other character flaws were exploited in order to better control/torment them. 

Huma recruited unofficial collaborators such as minors and prostitutes in order to enter the target's daily life. Children of the targets were told to spy on their parents and targets were set up with children in order to press "pedophilia" charges. SAVAMA cemented a type of proto-"cancel culture" among Iranians to alienate the opponent and ruin their reputation. Otherwise pious, married men were also set up with prostitutes and they received "adultery" charges. This would lead the opponent to become more estranged from their loved ones and family. The personal alienation would become even wider as the SAVAMA would "engineer" incidents in order to tear families and friends apart.

[b]•[/b] In prison, the SAVAMA regularly employed psychological torture and manipulation to break the victim's will and force them to rethink their entire worldview. In Evin, the SAVAMA had wardens cherry pick and recite troubling verses within the Quran to naive idealistic Islamic liberal opponents to make them disillusioned with their ideals. The most zealous of Islamic political opponents were given "pleasantries" by prostitutes and strippers. There were even reports of male Islamists being "raped" in order to strip away their masculinity. Mock executions were reported in addition to forced stripping and assembling both naked men and women together against their comfort zones. Many "psy-ops" were left unreported and in the air of speculation.

[b]•[/b] Foreign-wise; the SAVAMA were involved in propping up the Bashir Gemayel regime in Lebanon using arms and money in order to defeat Hezbollah, assassinated ex-Sepah leaders who assisted in the founding of Hezbollah, attempted to destabilize Kurdistan by turning Barzani and Ocalan into rivals in coordination with Turkey, attempted to sow sectarian conflict within Iraq by sending inflammatory pamphlets to Shia Iraqis encouraging them to rebel, monitored the activities of Central Asian separatists within the USSR while helping the USSR in squashing Azerbaijani separatism, and helped Shia-components of the Mujahideen for a short-while during the Iran-Afghanistan Affair in exchange for US arms during the Iran-Iraq War until... they supported the Najibullah regime instead after the war.[/size][/font][/spoiler]

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Equipment[/color][/font][/size][/b]
[hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dzdAEh1.png[/img]
[font=Helvetica][size=75][i]What the American press thought about Iran's military hardware purchasing spree and the American military-industrial complex.[/i][/size][/font][/center]

[font=Helvetica][size=100]The Iranian military maintains one of the region's largest and potent arsenal of weapons ranging from American-made fighter jets, quality German rifles, to British naval ships. A large budget of $82 billion was dedicated for the acquisition and maintenance of foreign weapons. This is absolutely imperative as Iran is locked in a "dick-measuring contest" between itself and Iraq. Then there was the looming threat of the Soviet Union as it began supporting the PDPA government in Afghanistan after the Saur Revolution. However by the time the war with Iraq started on 1980; Iran began embarking on a program of building its domestic military manufacturing industry as well as researching on surface-to-air missiles and other rocketry. There's a popular saying in Iran which goes "They have the money to afford all of these equipment yet not enough in feeding us".[/size][/font]

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1404118

[b][size=110][font=Century Gothic][color=#008040]Gallery[/color][/font][/size][/b]
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[center]https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1402227[/center]

[center][img]https://media.giphy.com/media/cKauDzHgVaKcZQMab0/giphy.gif[/img] [img]https://media.giphy.com/media/USDxQaMNn6Senrtqq9/giphy.gif[/img] [img]https://media.giphy.com/media/fA7Bpm3pCAfaoaTuz9/giphy.gif[/img][/center]