By Robert Farley
With the Iran deal, Tehran will be looking to purchase arms. Who’s selling?
The recent deal between the P5+1 and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program means, reportedly, that Iran will once again be on the market for advanced weapons technology,and that (eventually) it will have money to spend.
There is little question that both Russia and China have been looking forward to this moment. Indeed, Russian and Chinese forebearance has been one of the miracles of the sanctions process, evidence that neither, however much they like to tweak the United States, actually favors a nuclear Iran. But even if the deal fails to make its way through the U.S. and Iranian diplomatic process, the arms embargo has a very limited lifespan.
What does Iran need? Pretty much everything. Thirty years of sanctions and war have left the Iranian military with an arsenal of obsolescent weapons. The Iranians have done good work in a few areas, but the country simply lacks the size, technology, and market access to successfully develop an autarkic defense industry.
Read the full story at The Diplomat