Which Iranian governments succeeded in achieving military readiness and maintaining territorial integrity? Was it the Qajar, the Pahlavi, or the Islamic Republic?
One of the matters that Iranians focus on the most in their memory of history and regard as the most important basis for their judgments about history is the question of their country's territorial integrity. Iran lost parts of its native land over the years under the rule of various dynasties, and this continued up until the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Preservation of Iran’s territorial integrity was achieved only after the victory of the Revolution in Iran when Iran was emancipated from foreign occupation and dependency on foreign countries was stopped. This article presents a comparative-analytical report on the preservation of the territorial integrity of Iran. The main emphasis here will be on modern Iranian history, i.e. the Pahlavi regimes and the Islamic Republic.
The Pahlavi era was a period of contradictions in contemporary Iranian history in many ways, and these contradictions are more prominent in the question of territorial integrity. The Pahlavi regime had a seemingly significant military power, but it was repeatedly and severely ravaged by foreign forces during its rule. When Reza Khan came to power, the number of Iranian army servicemen increased from 30,000 to 120,000. Along with this 400% increase in the size of the army, its budget also increased to more than 50% of the country's total budget.[1] Nevertheless, when the Allies decided to enter Iran, this army was unable to survive for even one day. As Imam Khomeini said, the army failed to resist for even three hours. This is according to what they themselves announced.[2] This violation of Iran's territorial integrity also resulted in clear violations of Iran's political integrity. The occupiers took control of all the affairs of the country, from food distribution to the suppression of dissidents.[3] The inefficiency of the Pahlavi army in countering foreign aggressions and defending the country's borders, particularly considering the fact that huge expenses had been imposed on the general public for expanding and equipping this army, made many Iranians angry and feel hopeless.[4]
Reza Khan had trained the army for internal repression rather than defining a national goal and organizing military forces to deal with an external enemy. Therefore, this army didn't even show the least possible defence against the foreigners’ aggression.
This passivity was not limited to the way they dealt with the great powers during Reza Khan's period. Even in the face of regional powers such as Turkey, the Pahlavi regime could not protect its borders without giving concessions. The concessions given to Turkey in the case of Little Ararat and the northwestern borders are historical examples of such concessions. Similar conceding of borders was witnessed in relation to Iraq and Afghanistan, which were indicative of Iran's lack of border sovereignty in the past.[5]
During the reign of Mohammad Reza, the son of Reza Khan, Iran appeared to be a sovereign power in the region because of the large amount of equipment that it had purchased from the West. However, the greatest historical reduction in Iranian territorial integrity after the Qajar rule occurred during the rule of the second Pahlavi monarch. During the Nixon and Ford administrations, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi bought more than $ 12 billion of arms overall.[6] In 1977 alone, Iran's dependence on other nations for weaponry amounted to more than $ 5.5 billion, with $4.5 billion accounting for the U.S. share of these imports to Iran. Over 31% of the country's budget at that time was spent on arms purchases, while the World Bank reported 46% of Iranians were below the poverty line at that time.[7] Nevertheless, the most shameful event in Iran's 50-year history during the Pahlavis, namely the separation of Bahrain from Iran, took place during the period of the second Pahlavi. In this affair, the Pahlavi regime accepted to relinquish Bahrain due to international pressure despite opposition from many local nationalist politicians. This pressure was especially brought by Western countries following a referendum organized by the Western powers.
In view of the issues mentioned above, an examination of the Islamic Republic of Iran's record in preserving its territorial integrity shows its significance. Right after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran was faced with one of the problems that lingered on after the Pahlavi regimes. Border disputes with Iraq, which had not been resolved during the reign of the second Pahlavi, became Saddam's pretext for invading Iran. Hence, Saddam imposed an eight-year war after receiving the go ahead from the U.S. and he received support from more than 80 countries around the world.[8]
During this war, Saddam received arms support from most Western countries, including the United States, Britain, France, and Germany. At the same time, almost all Arab countries except Syria and Oman also supported Saddam. In this regard, the magazine Foreign Policy cited newly leaked CIA documents in 2013 and wrote, "During the last days of Iraq’s war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defences. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of Iranian troops to Iraq fully aware that Hussein’s military would attack with chemical weapons, including Sarin, which is a lethal nerve agent.”[9] And this is just a small portion of the U.S. and some European countries' support of Saddam against Iran.
After eight years of unequal war, not only did Saddam fail to seize even a centimeter of Iranian territory, but he also acknowledged his weakness by accepting the Security Council’s resolution for a ceasefire before Iran did. The outcome of the war for Iran was that it achieved its first victory in its modern history. This war also resulted in the advancement of military capabilities, the preservation of territorial integrity, an increase in the country’s national pride and dignity, and the development of an experienced military. For the first time since Qajar rule and up through 1990, all international powers and most regional powers working altogether had failed to undermine Iran's territorial integrity.
It is noteworthy that during the Iran-Iraq war, not only did Iraq enjoy the full support of the West with the U.S. at its core, but in addition Iran was sanctioned and unable to receive the slightest military or non-military assistance from most countries in the world. The scale of the sanctions was so extensive that according to Imam Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, "I once said that we wanted to import barbed wire from abroad. The cargo had to be delivered by way of Soviet lands, but the Soviet Union would not allow the cargo to be delivered by way of their land in spite of the fact that it was neither military cargo nor could it be used for aggressive purposes. It was just barbed wire. This shows how many restrictions they had imposed on our country.”[10]
Nonetheless, post-Islamic Revolutionary Iran had based its work on maintaining independence in the fields of politics and thought on the one hand, and on the other hand, it had experienced eight years of brutal war. Thus it fully understood the path to military power and sovereignty required not having any hopes in the superpowers of the world while relying on domestic strengths and creativity. Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran made every effort to achieve military self-sufficiency and independence. This was perhaps the greatest outcome of the U.S. war fought by Saddam against Iran.
As a result of adopting that approach, Iran has restored and enhanced various military capabilities and has made significant progress, especially in the areas of missile power, armored vehicles, combat helicopters, submarines, and training personnel who are ready-to-serve. Accordingly, Military Watch Magazine ranks Iran as the world's 11th military power.[11] The crucial point about the growth of Iran's military power after the Islamic Revolution is that much of this growth has been achieved without relying on imports. The emphasis in the country has been on developing military science and technology internally. According to the World Bank, Iran's military imports in 2018 were around $4 million, a figure that is very small compared to most countries in the world. This accounts for only 0.01% of the world's total arms imports.
This domestic growth and readiness enabled Iran to be able to further maintain its successful record in defending its territorial integrity after the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988. Despite the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and their aggressive tendencies, the Islamic Republic powerfully defended the borders of its territory from the Taliban, and the Taliban was not able to violate Iran's territorial integrity even temporarily.
Iran's military strength and political independence in the region, like two powerful arms, have given so much dignity to Iran in the region that even if the world powers violate Iran's air, land or sea space, they will be repelled and punished. Representative examples of this growth and Iran’s military-political strength are quite evident in the following cases:
A- Arresting a number of U.S. soldiers who had either intentionally or unintentionally trespassed Iran's borders.
B- Hacking and landing a RQ-170 super spy drone in 2011.
C- Detecting and destroying the expensive, technically-advanced U.S. "Global Hawk" stealth drone in 2019.
And the list goes on.
After ISIS became strong in Iraq and Syria, Iran has continuously reacted to events taking place at a distance of 40 km from its border. Therefore, the ISIS military has never been able to get closer than 40 kilometers to the Iranian border. This shows the real sovereignty of the Iranian military that has not been boasted about and has not been seen in the form of propaganda.
After ISIS - the terrorist group that was created by the U.S. as the current U.S. president acknowledged in his election campaigns - became strong, a wave of terror and murder swept through the West Asian region. Country after country was attacked by the terrorist group. Iran's military forces in the region, led by Major-General Qasem Soleimani and other Iranian military commanders, along with Russia and other countries that had been invaded by ISIS, responded and were able to nearly completely rid the region of the US-backed terrorists.
Iran's role in confronting ISIS is so significant and undeniable that even the U.S. media has had to admit this. Newsweek published an article entitled, "If Iran weakens, ISIS will rise again." In another example, CNN highlighted this fact by reporting that, "Soleimani's role in countering ISIS must be remembered."[12]
The last and perhaps most prominent manifestation of Iran's territorial integrity was Iran's reaction to the assassination of Major-General Soleimani. Even if the assassination of General Soleimani took place outside of Iranian borders, since this noble martyr was an Iranian official and he had travelled to Iraq on an official visit, his martyrdom is considered to be a violation of Iran's national sovereignty.
Hence, Iran’s response in the form of an attack on the U.S. military base was a move to defend Iran's territorial integrity and national sovereignty. It represented an unprecedented attack on the United States and its bases since World War II. Dozens of U.S. military staff were killed and hundreds were injured, although the U.S. government has tried to conceal the number of casualties.
[1] Majd, Mohammad Gholi. Great Britain & Reza Shah: the Plunder of Iran, 1921-1941. University Press of Florida, 2011.
[3] https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/iran-cold-war-crucible
[4] Ward, Steven R. Immortal: a Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Georgetown University Press, 2014.
[5] Bahmani Qajar, Muhammad Ali. Iran's Territorial Integrity: A History of the Borders of Iran. Institute of Political Research and Studies, 2012.
[6] Crist, David. The Twilight War: the Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran. Penguin Books, 2013.
[7] Toufanian, Hassan. Memoirs of former General Hassan Toufanian. Ziba Publishing, 2003.
[8] Islamic Revolution Document Center
[9] https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/08/26/exclusive-cia-files-prove-america-helped-saddam-as-he-gassed-iran/
[10] http://english.khamenei.ir/news/5778/Imam-Khamenei-s-anecdote-of-barbed-wire-sanctions-against-Iran
[11] https://militarywatchmagazine.com/forceapp/countries
[12] https://www.newsweek.com/if-iran-falls-isis-may-rise-1475818
