Artesh

The Artesh (Islamic Republic of Iran Army, formally Artesh-e Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran) is Iran's conventional regular military, founded in its modern form in 1923 under Reza Shah and reconstituted after the 1979 revolution. It encompasses ground forces, air force, naval forces, and air defence, with an estimated 350,000 active personnel. The Artesh is constitutionally subordinate to the Supreme Leader via the Joint Armed Forces General Staff Headquarters, placing it in a parallel command structure alongside the IRGC.

A key distinction for understanding Iranian military posture is the division between the Artesh and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC controls Iran's missile forces, the Quds Force (overseas operations), and the Basij militia. The Artesh handles conventional territorial defence. In the current Hormuz standoff, it is the IRGC Navy — not the Artesh Navy — that has conducted swarm-boat incidents and overseen the blockade enforcement. The Artesh's own naval forces operate larger conventional surface vessels and submarines.

During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War the Artesh suffered catastrophic losses and was subsequently overshadowed institutionally by the IRGC, which was founded during the revolution and enjoys greater political trust from the leadership. Budget allocations and procurement priorities have historically favoured the IRGC. Analysts note that the Artesh's conventional capabilities — particularly air defence and armoured ground forces — would be the primary assets engaged in any direct exchange with US or Coalition forces, making its readiness level directly relevant to assessments of Iranian deterrence capacity.