Abstract
In 1989, following a costly eight-year war with Iraq, Iran initiated a major military build-up intended to rebuild, expand, and modernize its ravaged armed forces and thereby transform itself into a regional military power. Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, its naval build-up in the Persian Gulf, its efforts to undermine the Arab-Israeli peace process, and its support for radical Islamic movements throughout the Middle East raise disturbing questions about Tehran’s intentions and the long-term implications of its efforts to bolster its military capabilities.
In this Policy Paper, the first in a three-volume study on Iran, Washington Institute’s military affairs fellow, Michael Eisenstadt, evaluates Iranian military developments since the end of the Gulf war. Through exhaustive research, he examines Tehran’s efforts to build its conventional and non-conventional arsenals as well as the impact of diminishing oil revenues on Tehran’s rearmament drive.
PDF