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Iranian officials have hailed the lifting of a 13-year UN arms embargo on its armed forces as a momentous day, claiming that they were once again free to buy and sell conventional weapons in an effort to strengthen their country’s security. .
The embargo was lifted on Sunday morning despite protests from the United States and was in line with the five-year timetable set out in the Iran nuclear deal, which was signed in 2015.
Russia and China are the two countries most likely to offer weapons to Tehran, making Iran less dependent on its own arms industry and smuggling.
But Iran’s dismal financial state, and the continuing threat of US sanctions on anyone who trades with the country, means that Tehran is unlikely to embark on a short-term shopping spree, or to hit the defense spending levels of its major players. rivals from the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said: “As of today, all restrictions on the transfer of arms, related activities and financial services to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran … are automatically terminated.”
The chancellor described the day as momentous and put the event in both a diplomatic and military context. “Today’s normalization of Iran’s defense cooperation with the world is a victory for the cause of multilateralism and peace and security in our region,” said Javad Zarif.
However, the Defense Ministry said that “unconventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction and the purchase of conventional weapons” had no place in the country’s defense doctrine.
The European Union and the United Kingdom will maintain a separate arms embargo against Iran despite the lifting of the UN embargo.
In the summer, France, Germany, and the UK rejected US efforts to impose a rollback of all UN sanctions on Iran, fearing Tehran would pull out of the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPoA) entirely, the official name of the 2015 agreement. The three European powers believe that the JCPoA still prevents Iran from becoming a military nuclear power, the main objective of the agreement.
The JCPoA included clauses stipulating the lifting of the UN arms embargo five years after it was signed on October 15, 2015. European powers hoped to negotiate a voluntary extension of the embargo for 18 months, but were unable to persuade Russia and China to support the movement in the UN security council.
The three European powers will now rely on an EU embargo, which was first introduced in 2007, and which will continue until 2023. The embargo covers conventional weapons and missile technology.
But the United States claims that by rejecting the reimposition of all UN sanctions, the EU has allowed Iranian terrorists to be armed. In a sign of tension over transatlantic relations, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in June that European powers were targeting the capitals of Europe in Tehran.
The separate embargoes block Iranian sales to Lebanon, Yemen and Syria.
In theory, Iran will now be free to buy tanks, high-caliber armored fighting vehicles and artillery systems, fighter jets and naval vessels without the need for additional UN approval.
Iran has always had the freedom to purchase purely defensive weapons, including, if it wishes, the Russian-made S-400 air defense system. There are signs that Russia is eager not only to share sensitive defense technology with Iran, but to anger other Middle Eastern customers such as the United Arab Emirates.
Iran’s defense spending last year was around $ 18.4bn (£ 14.2bn), roughly 3.5% of the country’s GDP, although the exact value is questioned. However, the Iranian economy has recently been hit by both Covid-19 and pressure from Washington on Tehran and those seeking to trade with Iran. Most of the defense spending is from the Revolutionary Guard, and Iran’s core military force is derived from a combination of proxy militias, cyber warfare, ballistic missiles, and a large defensive army.
Defense experts predict that rather than buying a large number of prohibitively expensive tanks or fighter jets, Iran is more likely to buy a small number of advanced weapons systems and try to transfer the technology domestically.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia spent nearly $ 80 billion on defense, the same as Iran spent over the previous four years combined, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
