Iranian arms exports - where's the info?!?

[drg]

Howdy
I got interested in the above topic after stumbling onto the wikipedia page of the Iranian army, and then onto the section of the defense industry of Iran.
In the defence industry section it claims that 57 nations in 2006 imported either Iranian military equipment or Iranian military knowhow.
I thought that was interesting enough to launch a Google search for any more info i could find, sepcifically in relation to which countries may have "bought Iranian".
So, what do you think i found?!?
Info on Chinese arms sales to Iran, info on Russian arms sales to Iran, info on recent sanctions on Iran, and old info on possible Israeli arms sales to Iran.
Hmmmm.....Yes.....
So what did i manage to find?!?
Well...not much...
One source claimed that it was rumoured that the Iranians smuggled weapons into Somalia, in exchange for uranium from the ICU (which subsequently got ripped apart by Ethiopian forces). That might be interesting to some, but my interest in nuclear programs etc is little to none.
Apparently, another source contends, Algeria, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan signed military co-operation agreements with Iran in 2005. After further searching i found the details for Algeria and Tajikistan, and have yet to find stuff on Azerbaijan. Admittedly I already knew about Tajikistan's co-op with Iran (due to cultural ties), and i also knew about Algeria and Iran restarting diplomatic ties, after a long tiff over the GIA.
However, none of the above information has gome any ways to solving the key question i was trying to answer, which is:
What weapons (or hardware) have the Iranian's sold to other countries (not armed groups or insurgents)?
A while back i found much to my surprise, that there were apparently 40 Boragh APCs in Kazakhstan's army.
On top of this is the speculation that Iran has sold Syria
"100 missiles and C-802 systems" (Kowsar anyone? I think that's what it's called).
But more interestingly was the wikipedia articles claim that Iran had sold to the 57 or so countries AS WELL AS NATO countries.
What NATO countries would have bought Iranian? (pre-US sanctions)
Too many questions and not enough information!!!!

 

[Izzy1]

Howdy
I got interested in the above topic after stumbling onto the wikipedia page of the Iranian army, and then onto the section of the defense industry of Iran.
In the defence industry section it claims that 57 nations in 2006 imported either Iranian military equipment or Iranian military knowhow.
I thought that was interesting enough to launch a Google search for any more info i could find, sepcifically in relation to which countries may have "bought Iranian".
So, what do you think i found?!?
Info on Chinese arms sales to Iran, info on Russian arms sales to Iran, info on recent sanctions on Iran, and old info on possible Israeli arms sales to Iran.
Hmmmm.....Yes.....
So what did i manage to find?!?
Well...not much...
One source claimed that it was rumoured that the Iranians smuggled weapons into Somalia, in exchange for uranium from the ICU (which subsequently got ripped apart by Ethiopian forces). That might be interesting to some, but my interest in nuclear programs etc is little to none.
Apparently, another source contends, Algeria, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan signed military co-operation agreements with Iran in 2005. After further searching i found the details for Algeria and Tajikistan, and have yet to find stuff on Azerbaijan. Admittedly I already knew about Tajikistan's co-op with Iran (due to cultural ties), and i also knew about Algeria and Iran restarting diplomatic ties, after a long tiff over the GIA.
However, none of the above information has gome any ways to solving the key question i was trying to answer, which is:
What weapons (or hardware) have the Iranian's sold to other countries (not armed groups or insurgents)?
A while back i found much to my surprise, that there were apparently 40 Boragh APCs in Kazakhstan's army.
On top of this is the speculation that Iran has sold Syria
"100 missiles and C-802 systems" (Kowsar anyone? I think that's what it's called).
But more interestingly was the wikipedia articles claim that Iran had sold to the 57 or so countries AS WELL AS NATO countries.
What NATO countries would have bought Iranian? (pre-US sanctions)
Too many questions and not enough information!!!!

I know GF and a few others here will agree with me on this, but the moral of the story is don't trust Wikipedia. Anything that can so easily be edited by absolutely anyone can thus be manipulated and abused. I would never consider it a reliable source.

57 countries does indeed seem very high - countries and non-state paramilitaries I could believe. Must admit though, its got me thinking of countries that do use Iranian kit.

 

[SABRE]

I think Iran does export some small weapons. Azerbijan & Tajikistan might certainly have bought some small weapons. Besides that exchange of weapons between Syria & Iran also takes place.

 

[rrrtx]

Iranian materials have been showing up in Iraq lately. Not so much arms exports (selling to another government) but rather more of a foreign policy tool really.

Iran has a developing arms manufacturing capability There is the new F-5 clone, a tank, APC, SP howitzer, assault rifles, etc. but it isn't enough to sufficiently equip even it's own forces completely. I'm not sure, even if Iran had interested customers, that exporting arms would be in it's best interest at the moment.

 

[onslaught]

Wikipedia says that some Boragh APC were sent to Kazakhstan but I'd take that statement with lots of salt. I believe that some Misagh MANPADs ended up in Iraq. Also, Hezbollah got some C-802's from Iran and fired one at an Israeli warship. If Iran were to start exporting lots of arms to other countries, they'd probably export anti-tank missiles, RPGs, and maybe even some ballistic missiles. They've been conducting several ballistic missile tests with the Fajr and Shahab. The biggest problem Iran will face will be the UN sanctions though.

 

[kato]

Complete SIPRI data, for the 2001-2006 period.

(official UN Register categories items only)

 

[drg]

Sudan eh...Yep one of my suspects

Well i can't say i'm surprised about Sudan getting 3 Rakshs
I've been thinking a bit more about my question and i have a few possibilities:
Somalia (as rumoured), Sudan (as proven), Eritrea (just a hunch). These seem to be the three most likely, due to past links.
Outside chances:
Venezuela (but not likely), Cuba (not likely), Belarus (again not likely), North Korea (probably not), Yemen (simply due to the number of different countries whose small arms end up in the country), Bolivia (erm...)
As for the NATO countries, well...is Bosnia a NATO country? Iran supported (and i believe equipped)Bosnia during the Balkan Wars, so maybe there are still connections there.
Perhaps most of the exports went into the smaller African nations?
I suppose i'm going to have to find a site which might elaborate on co-operation between Iran's DIO and other countries defense industries.

 

[contedicavour]

Well i can't say i'm surprised about Sudan getting 3 Rakshs
I've been thinking a bit more about my question and i have a few possibilities:
Somalia (as rumoured), Sudan (as proven), Eritrea (just a hunch). These seem to be the three most likely, due to past links.
Outside chances:
Venezuela (but not likely), Cuba (not likely), Belarus (again not likely), North Korea (probably not), Yemen (simply due to the number of different countries whose small arms end up in the country), Bolivia (erm...)
As for the NATO countries, well...is Bosnia a NATO country? Iran supported (and i believe equipped)Bosnia during the Balkan Wars, so maybe there are still connections there.
Perhaps most of the exports went into the smaller African nations?
I suppose i'm going to have to find a site which might elaborate on co-operation between Iran's DIO and other countries defense industries.

No, Bosnia is not in NATO though it may have signed some bits of the Partnership for Peace agreement.
I'm wondering if Iran can be competitive in pricing vs just importing the Chinese or Russian (or even 70s vintage American) weapons on which the Iranians based their own equipment. Add in the hassle of risking sanctions if caught importing weapons from Iran and I'm very sceptical about the size of Iranian arms exports.

cheers

 

[jennery587]

yep

Admin: Text deleted. Please read forum rules re acceptable posting standards.

 

[merocaine]

how come iran know how to develop weapon i tough they where stupid

mongo like candy?

 

[wittmanace]

mongo like candy?

that is the funniest post i have ever read on a board, thanks for that, made me laugh hard after a long long day! hahahahahahahaha.

as for the attachment previously, is this the extent of official U.N. recorded Iranian arms exports? i would have thought Sudan had bought more equipment (perhaps more in the form of munitions and ammunition?) from Iran rather than a small one off...

 

[kato]

as for the attachment previously, is this the extent of official U.N. recorded Iranian arms exports?

It's what SIPRI has collected. They usually take the UN Arms Transfer Register (not applicable for either Iran nor Sudan of course), and add in info from other sources, usually Jane's and such. They usually tend not to include rumour-only information, though i wouldn't say that everything is 100% solid either, though.

The portal for the arms trade database can be found here.

If you look through the information given on Sudan there, most of their equipment comes from Belarus (which has consistently sold out its stocks all over Africa in the last 15 years), as well as Russia itself (for "higher-class items" such as MiG-29SE or BTR-80A).

 

[funtz]

ofcourse, Israels Python 5 achived its first kill against an Iranian UAV being used by Hezbolla its called Ababil (Swallow) a payload of about 80 pounds 290 km/hr for 90 minutes. perfect for insurgents everywhere.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ababil.htm
I can bet most iranian exports are not declared to the UN.

 

[jennery587]

Admin. Text deleted. Read the forum rules about posting standards. One liners that offer no contribution to the quality of the debate are unacceptable.

2nd Warning issued

 

[Opticsgod]

what about Iranian MANPADS?

Has anyone heard anything about Iranian MANPADS?

 

[eckherl]

I think Iran does export some small weapons. Azerbijan & Tajikistan might certainly have bought some small weapons. Besides that exchange of weapons between Syria & Iran also takes place.

Iran has also sold armor upgrade packages for main battle tanks to Syria and North Korea.

 

[drg]

Ive just found some more information that was based on something i wrote down in the past.
I won't bother posting an adress because the article is about the Sri Lankan civil war but the quote i found is the following:
"The LTTE claimed that the airstrip existed before the 2002 ceasefire and made the counter-accusation that the Sri Lankan government was buying arms from Iran and Pakistan. During the year, an arms agreement initiated by President Chandrika Kumaratunga during a visit to Tehran in December 2004, worth an estimated $150 million was provisionally agreed. This deal was followed a month later by a military delegation led by Army Commander Lt.-Gen. Shantha Kottegoda to Iran. Key procurements included land-based air-defence missile systems for the Air Force; coastal patrol boats for the Navy and mortars and sniper rifles for the Army; a manufacturing plant for small-arms ammunition; communications, engineering and night-vision equipment; and vehicles for transport and emergency rescue use".
This comes from the IISS website, so it should be trustworthy.
Also, I've read on the CSIS website that Senegal was interested in acquiring "armoured vehicles, munitions and air defense equipment".
It's getting interesting...

 

[Chrom]

Has anyone heard anything about Iranian MANPADS?

Iran reportedly produce some manpads comparable with Strela-2M or early Stingers. Hardly effective against combat aircrafts or helos, but can shot down less protected targets with weak ECM/EW.

 

[drg]

Well the only Iranian MANPADS I know about are the Misagh-1 and 2, the Misagh-1 apparently being a copy of the Chinese QW-1.
Anyways let's try and keep on subject ay?

 

[FSMonster]

Well i can't say i'm surprised about Sudan getting 3 Rakshs
I've been thinking a bit more about my question and i have a few possibilities:
Somalia (as rumoured), Sudan (as proven), Eritrea (just a hunch). These seem to be the three most likely, due to past links.
Outside chances:
Venezuela (but not likely), Cuba (not likely), Belarus (again not likely), North Korea (probably not), Yemen (simply due to the number of different countries whose small arms end up in the country), Bolivia (erm...)
As for the NATO countries, well...is Bosnia a NATO country? Iran supported (and i believe equipped)Bosnia during the Balkan Wars, so maybe there are still connections there.

Since 1995 there had been no war supplies sent from Iran to Bosnia. NATO membership is expected as the army has been reformed and professionalized (no more conscripts).
To my knowledge, some ammunition has been supplied by Iran during war to both Bosnia and Croatia. There is a transcript that has recently been made available, in which Croatia's president is asking ministers to see if they can get more of the tank ammunition for the T55 (100mm rounds) from the Iranians. Anti-tank missiles were supplied by Pakistan (Green Arrow, HQ8) and by Turkey (from their stocks of Milan ATGM).