Iran, for example, has more manpower than Israel (Picture: Getty)
Comprehending a possible war between two of the Middle East’s most powerful militaries is a tall order for most people.
But just looking at the numbers for their armies and weapons can give people a rough idea of which side might have an edge.
As Israel and Iran launch missile after missile and send troop after troop, fears that the longtime adversaries may descend into a war are on the rise.
Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, has faced a reckoning after Israel assassinated several of its leaders as it invaded southern Lebanon.
Iran fired almost 180 barrage ballistic missiles into Israel last night in what the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps said was retaliation for killings of members of Hezbollah and Hamas, which governs Gaza.
While most were intercepted by the country’s air defence system, some missiles fell into southern and central Israel.
‘Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,’ Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
With the pair on war footing, how do the militaries of Israel and Iran compare?
Manpower
The Global Firepower index (GFP) grades the military strength and capabilities of every military in the world.
Iran is higher than Israel on the index, at 14 and 17 out of 145 respectively. For perspective, the US, Russia and China are the top three.
GFP says there are a fair few reasons why Iran outclasses Israel, and their respective manpower is one of them.
Israel’s population is a little over 9.4 million, according to 2023 census estimates. Iran, meanwhile, has nearly 10 times more than that at 88,550,000.
Both nations have their strengths and weaknesses (Picture: Emily Manley/Metro.co.uk)
The death of the leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, and late Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, has shaken Iran (Picture: Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA Press Wire/)
Soldiers from a unit of the Iranian army march during the annual military parade (Picture: AFP)
This is also reflected in their armies. Iran’s armed forces are among the largest in West Asia, with 610,000 active-duty personnel and about 350,000 trained reserve personnel divided between the Iran Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Indeed, the corps is an army within an army. Iran also has a network of proxy allies, including the Houthi militia in Tmen and Iraq’s Shiite forces, often called the ‘Axis of Resistance’.
Israel has hundreds of thousands fewer people to call on. IDF figures put the number of active military personnel in the army, navy and paramilitary at 169,500. About 465,000 are in reserves, which is 115,000 more than Iran.
Defence spending
Tel Aviv is a big spender when it comes to defence. GFP’s number-crunching reveals that Israel’s defence budget is roughly £18,066,840,000 whereas Iran’s is a comparatively measly £7,500,000.
Tehran might not have Israel’s budget – Western sanctions certainly don’t help – but Iran doesn’t rely on state cash as much, the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) says.
‘The military establishment controls [one-fifth] of the market value of …read more
Source:: Metro
