On November 19, the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA) today released “Iran Military Power,” an intelligence
product that examines the core capabilities of Iran’s military.
This volume in DIA’s series of
military power reports provides details on Iran’s defense and military goals,
strategy, plans, and intentions. It examines the organization, structure and
capability of the military supporting those goals, as well as the enabling
infrastructure and industrial base.
“As Tehran expands its capabilities
and role as both an unconventional and conventional threat in the Middle East,
it is more important than ever that we understand Iran’s military power and the
threat it poses to our interests, our allies, and our own security,” Defense
Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley, Jr. said in his
introduction.
Throughout its 40-year history, the
Islamic Republic of Iran has remained implacably opposed to the United States
and its presence in the Middle East. Iran has built its military power
primarily to serve two important goals: ensuring the survival of the regime and
securing a dominant position in the region.
“Iran sees itself as closer than ever
to achieving its goals, Ashley said. “Tehran has played the cards dealt it by
the fall of Saddam, the uprising in Syria, the rise and retreat of ISIS, and
the conflict in Yemen.”
“By applying a rigorous
lessons-learned process during decades of conflict in the Middle East, Iran has
adapted its military capabilities and doctrine to account for developments by
the United States and its allies. Although still technologically inferior to
most of its competitors, the Iranian military has progressed substantially over
the past few decades,” Ashley added.
The military power series of
unclassified overviews is designed to help the public achieve a deeper
understanding of key challenges and threats to U.S. national security and focus
on near-peer competitors and challengers such as Russia, China, Iran and North
Korea.
“This product and other reports
in this series are intended to inform our public, our leaders, the national
security community, and partner nations about the challenges we face in the
21st century,” Ashley said.
DIA has a long history of producing
comprehensive and authoritative defense intelligence overviews. In 1981, DIA
published the first unclassified “Soviet Military Power” report, which was
translated into eight languages and distributed around the world.
Two years ago, in the spirit of
“Soviet Military Power,” DIA decided to once again produce and publish
unclassified defense intelligence overviews of the major foreign military
challenges we face.
LINK to report: https://www.dia.mil/Military-Power-Publications/
Source: DIA
By 
