Throughout 2015, Iran has been working with the global community to implement nuclear
development standards.
But although the US government is in support of comprehensive reform, Israel’s Prime
Minister has said that a nuclear Iran would threaten Israel’s very existence.
Iranian leaders have opposed Israel’s statehood, and repeatedly threatened to annihilate the
country.
With tensions sky-high, we wanted to know; what would happen if Israel and Iran went
to war?
Well, first and foremost, the big issue at hand is the potential for nuclear war.
Currently, Israel is thought to be considerably farther ahead in nuclear proliferation than
Iran.
Although Israel is NOT one of five countries allowed to possess nuclear weapons, they maintain
what is called “nuclear ambiguity”.
Some sources estimate that Israel has at least 80 nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Iran is said to be nearing the capability to produce their first nuclear
weapon.
However, evidence as to whether this is true, or even possible, is the source of much debate.
Iran has been sanctioned for violating nuclear guidelines, and been accused of developing
weapons grade uranium.
Still, no matter how far along Iran actually is, there is little doubt that Israel’s
ambiguous nuclear arsenal is considerably more powerful.
But outside of nuclear war, how do these militaries stack up?
Well, both are relatively strong, ranking within the top 25 most powerful world militaries.
In terms of manpower, Iran takes a significant lead.
While both countries have mandatory conscription, Iran’s population is ten times that of Israel’s.
So while Israel has about 800,000 available troops, Iran has closer to 2 and a half million.
Iran is also about 8 times larger than Israel, making it considerably harder to invade.
However, Iran falls short in nearly every other military category.
Israel is one of the world’s biggest arms producers, and develops a considerable amount
of military technology.
Iran lost western military support during the Iran-Iraq war, leading them to rely on
Russia, China, and North Korea.
Israel also spends roughly 17 billion dollars a year on its military, while Iran only spends
about a third of that.
Overall, there is no comparison between the size and scope of Israel’s advanced arsenal,
and Iran’s outdated and outsourced military capabilities.
Israel is also well known for having one of the most highly trained defense forces in
the world.
But all that aside, experts point out that neither country has much of a geographic reach
into the other.
The two are just, too far apart for a conventional war.
Instead, some point to their involvements in regional proxy wars to assert dominance.
Iran and Israel may be sworn enemies, but Iran’s biggest threat comes from the United
States, which has troops in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq.
Thus, with the US backing Israel’s powerful army, Iran would have a lot of trouble winning
any kind of direct conflict.
One of Iran’s only direct supporters, North Korea, is always on the brink of war.
To find out how a war between North and South Korea would turn out, check out this video.
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