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Military power of Iran & Saudi Arabia

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Iran vs Saudi Arabia

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Iran Saudi Arabia

Iran is a country located in Middle East with an area of 1,648,195 km2 (land boundries: 5,894 km and costline 2,440 km - note: Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)). The capital of Iran is Tehran. The number of inhabitants is 83,183,741.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was formed in May 1979. The IRGC was a highly institutionalized and parallel military force to Iran’s regular armed forces. The Iranian military's inventory includes a mix of domestically-produced and mostly older foreign equipment largely of Chinese, Russian, Soviet, and US origin. Iran has a defense industry with the capacity to develop, produce, support, and sustain air, land, missile, and naval weapons programs.

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Saudi Arabia is a country located in Middle East with an area of 2,149,690 km2 (land boundries: 4,272 km and costline 2,640 km). The capital of Saudi Arabia is Riyadh. The number of inhabitants is 34,218,169.

Saudi-led coalition of Arab states invaded Yemen in 2015. The inventory of the Saudi military forces, including the SANG, includes a mix of mostly modern weapons systems from the US and Europe. The United States is the leading supplier of armaments. In 2021 Saudi Arabia was the world's largest arms importer.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 10 billion $ 75 billion $
Percent of GDP: 2.1% 7%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 587,000 480,000
Reserve personnel: 200,000 325,000
Available for military: 23,619,215 8,240,714

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 2,842 1,275
Armoured fighting vehicles: 3,555 6,347
Total artillery: 4,873 2,580
Self-propelled artillery: 1,030 510
Rocket artillery: 1,755 252

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 973 1,407
Fighter aircraft: 112 141
Multirole aircraft: 75 72
Attack aircraft: 23 151
Helicopters: 519 491
UCAV (combat drone): 83 0

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 272 34
Aircraftcarriers: 0 0
Destroyers: 0 0
Frigates: 6 11
Corvettes: 3 9
Submarines: 19 0

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

Iran

Does not have nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia

Does not have nuclear weapons.

Military service

Iran

18 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; 17 years of age for Law Enforcement Forces; 15 years of age for Basij Forces (Popular Mobilization Army); conscript military service obligation is 18 months; women exempt from military service.

Saudi Arabia

17 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; no conscription.