Iranian Military
Iran's military capabilities and coastal defenses near the Strait of Hormuz make Iran a major player in international energy security. Iran's coastline is particularly important because tanker and shipping routes pass so close to Iran's land mass, the islands it controls in the Gulf, and its major naval bases.[i]
[i] Anthony Cordesman, Iran, Oil and the Strait of Hormuz, (CSIS Publication, March 26, 2007).
[ii] James M. Esquivel, "Iran and the Strait of Hormuz: Varying Levels of Interdiction," (Masters Thesis, Naval Post Graduate School, December 1997), p v. Online. Available: http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA342027&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf. Accessed: April 30, 2008.
[iii] James M. Esquivel, "Iran and the Strait of Hormuz: Varying Levels of Interdiction," (Masters Thesis, Naval Post Graduate School, December 1997), p 1. Online. Available: http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA342027&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf. Accessed: April 30, 2008.
[iv] Congressional Research Service, Iran: Arms and Technology Acquisitions (June 22, 1998), p. 4.
[v] Congressional Research Service, Iran: Arms and Technology Acquisitions (June 22, 1998), p. 4.
[vi] Michael Eisenstadt, "The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran: An Assessment," Middle East Review of International Affairs Journal, vol. 5, no. 1 (March 2001), p 17.
[vii] However, the new office was held by prominent Pasdaran member Hassan Firouzabadi; reflecting the Pasdaran's continued prestige within Iran's military apparatus. Daniel Byman, Shahram Chubin, Anoushiravan Ehteshami, and Jerrold D. Green, Iran's Security Policy in the Post-Revolutionary Era, (Santa Monica: RAND, 2001).
[viii] These countries include Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. James Hackett, ed., International Institute for Strategic and International Studies, The Military Balance 2008 (London: Routledge, 2007), pp 224-226.
[ix] Daniel Byman, Shahram Chubin, Anoushiravan Ehteshami, and Jerrold D. Green, Iran's Security Policy in the Post-Revolutionary Era (Santa Monica: RAND, 2001), pp 31-44.
[x] James Hackett, ed., International Institute for Strategic and International Studies, The Military Balance 2008 (London: Routledge, 2007), pp 224-226.
[xi] GlobalSecurity.org, Qods (Jerusalem) Force /Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps: IRGC - Pasdaran-e Inqilab. Online. Available: http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/qods.htm. Accessed September 25, 2007.
[xii] GlobalSecurity.org, Qods (Jerusalem) Force /Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps: IRGC - Pasdaran-e Inqilab. Online. Available: http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iran/qods.htm. Accessed September 25, 2007.
[xiii] Robin Wright, "Elite Revolutionary Guard Broadens Its Influence in Iran: Unit that Captured Britons Has Sway in Politics, Economy," Washington Post (April 1, 2007), sec. A, p. 21.
[xiv] Anthony Cordesman, Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Al Quds Force, and Other Intelligence and Paramilitary Forces (Washington, D.C.,: Center for Strategic International Studies, August 16, 2007). Online. Available: http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070816_cordesman_report.pdf. Accessed: April 30, 2008.
[xv] "Jane's World Armies: Iran," Jane's Defense News (August 29, 2006). Online. Available: http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jwar/jwar060829_1_n.shtml. Accessed: April 24, 2008.
[xvi] Michael Eisenstadt, "The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran: An Assessment" Middle East Review of International Affairs Journal, vol. 5, no. 1 (March 2001), p 17.
This page last modified in August 2008