The Iranian Threat?
First people should take a look at the Iranian government’s power structure at the BBC.
Then you can read about the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to understand that they are really the Iranian equivalent of America’s original militias, except they never went back to their day jobs. They consider themselves “protectors of the Revolution,” not just part of the Iranian military.
The money issue also comes into it, as at the Wikipedia entry on the Military of Iran it is reported:
Iran’s 2005 defence budget was estimated to be $6.3 billion by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies. This was $91 per capita, a lower figure than other Persian Gulf nations, and lower as a percentage of gross national product than all other Gulf states except the United Arab Emirates. Still, Iran’s military was called the Middle East’s most powerful by the senior U.S. commander in the region.
At that rate, the US defense budget would be $27.3 billion, not the $400+ billion it actually is.
So, they are the biggest threat in the area, and they manage to do it on the cheap. Maybe someone should find out how they do it?
