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The following organizational charts are sourced from a mysterious Persian-language document uploaded to a file-hosting site in 2011, and posted on a handful of military forums including Arteshi.com and military.ir. The author is unknown and there are no references for any of its claims. Thus, the credability of this document is questionable. Despite the need for caution, the information presented is largely consistent with verified formations and the inaccuracies that do exist (ex: claimed location of the 71st MIB) have been observed elsewhere, indicating that the claims, at the very least, have not simply been drawn from thin air. Unfortunately, this report dates from before the Samen al-Alaeme restructuring plan and thus reflects a divisional, rather than brigade-based, system. It is also unclear to what degree the following charts attempt to represent actual hierarchies, or are simply groupings based on type. The charts have been edited for clarity and aesthetic appearance, but thei

A legacy of the Iran-Iraq war, the antiquated BTR-60PB APC continues to soldier on in mechanized infantry units of the Iranian Army Ground Forces (NEZAJA) alongside the BMP and M-113. Identifying these armored vehicles on Google Earth's satellite imagery relies on the following criteria: 1) Context : BTR-60s are only deployed with Army units, and thus will never be found in IRGC-garrisons. Similarly, they are only deployed with mechanized infantry units, and thus will not be found in - for instance - artillery or logistics groups. 2) Dimensions & Length-to-Width Ratio (L/W) : This is the primary way to distinguish between any wheeled and tracked AFVs. As a general rule, the former will have a higher L/W ratio than the latter. Relative L/W Ratios : BTR-60:  2.68 BMP-1: 2.29 (-0.39) BMP-2: 2.13 (-0.55) M-113: 1.81 (-0.87) BTR-60 Dimensions : Length: 7.56 m Width: 2.82 m However, this seemingly iron-clad rule is difficult to implement in practice. Very often, it is possible to est

This piece, the first of a multi-part series covering the organization of Iran's Basij takes a look at one of the militia's primary combat-units: the Imam Hussein battalion. These light-infantry units are directly subordinate to the IRGC's Ground Forces, forming the core of their combat strength by contributing more than 100,000 reservists to the IRGC's network of brigades and divisions across the country. Soldiers from the 10th Bn prepare for exercises at their local headquarters in Mehriz, Yazd Index : Origin Role Organization (external) Organization (internal) Footnotes Origin : The origin of the Imam Hussein battalions lie in the assessments conducted by now-Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – General Mohammed Ali Jafari – during his time at the IRGC's Strategic Studies Center. By 2005 he concluded that the Basij were the 'backbone' of the IRGC, and recommended strengthening their combat-role by increasing coordination between

Google Earth / Libre-Office Draw The Army Ground Force's (NEZAJA's) 840th Missile Group is based out of the city of Aran and Bidgol in the Isfahan province. As of November 2013, the group is commanded by Col. Mojtabi Moustafi Zadeh.[1] The group is sometimes referred to in the media as a 'rocket launcher group'.[2] These are simply variations in nomenclature and do not reflect the technical differences between unguided rockets and guided missiles. Although it is the Army's only known missile group, other artillery groups have – in the past at least – included independent missile batteries alongside conventional artillery battalions. For example, during the Iran-Iraq war, the 44th Artillery Group was comprised of two tube-artillery battalions, an MLRS battalion, and one missile battery. [3] The group's 'Shahid Moustafi Kabrai' garrison can be found approximately four kilometers north of the city. Google Earth provides coverage of the garrison from 09/2

Title: What Is Soft War, and Ways of Confronting It  Date: NA Source: The Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran Webpage ( AJA) By 1945, the prevailing form of war was 'hard war'. After that, due to the world's bipolarity between the East and West blocs, a new cycle of competition began, which was known as the 'Cold War'. The Cold War was a combination of hard and soft war, in which those two super-powers avoided a direct confrontation. With the end of the USSR and the Cold War in 1991, warfare-experts in US [built on their] experience in two world wars and realized that their political and economic goals could be achieved with a smaller cost and without direct involvement in other countries, which became known in the political literature as Soft War. Soft War : This type of war began and continued through the [Cold War with the] USSR and is based on soft-threats, cultural and social soft-power. America has already been successful in changing several political regimes