There is no comparison on the military front, either. The United States spends over $600 billion a year on defense, while Iran spends $6 billion. The United States has over 1,500 strategic nuclear weapons, while Iran has none. The Business Insider rates the American military the best in the world, while Iran isn’t even in the top 20.
Additionally, the United States has 10 high end aircraft carriers, while Iran has none. The United States has 72 destroyers, Iran none. The United States has 14,000 planes, to Iran’s 480 planes. The United States has 62 destroyers while Iran has none. The Americans have 72 submarines, Iran has three.
So says Jonathan Adelman, professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver in his article for FoxNews.com.
He goes on to say, “The Iranian military is weak, with very limited naval and air force capability. In the eight year war with Iraq in the 1980s the Iranian military was unable to beat Saddam Hussein’s military. By contrast, in 2003 the American military destroyed it and took Baghdad in only 22 days. Iran has been struggling, sometimes slowed by sanctions, to build nuclear weapons ever since 1984. After 33 years it still has not yet succeeded.”
The United States has allied itself with three regional powers, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
In a recent survey of military power, Israel is rated #8 in the world, as it has 700 advanced fighters, 5 German Dolphin class submarines, 4,200 tanks and 100-200 atomic bombs. The Mossad and Shin Beth are among the world’s top 5 intelligence services in. According to Bloomberg, Israel rates #2 in the world for its anti-missile missiles. Israel may have the most experienced military in the world, as it has fought 11 wars since 1948.
Adelman says further that, “Egypt, direly afraid of Iran, has 470,000 troops, 4,600 tanks and 1,100 planes. Saudi Arabia, a limited military power, has announced it will go nuclear if Iran develops atomic bombs.”
Iran also lacks the strong universities that are important to military strength and strategy. The United States has 15 of the top 20 universities in the world, including Cal Tech, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and the University of Chicago. Iran no universities in the top 100 or even the top 800 universities in the world. Iran’s four best universities include Iran University, rated #895, Iran University Medical University rated at #2,273, and 2 others rated at #3,363 and # 5,142 in the world. They rate 112th In education in the world. 20% of adult Iranians are illiterate.
While the United States is a world leader in global innovations, Iran rates 120th out of 143 countries. In research and development, Iran rates 58th in the world. In business Iran rates 137th in the world for ease of doing business, and 67th for entrepreneurship. For doctors per thousand patients it runs in at 138th in the world, and its national health system rates 93rd in the world. For gender empowerment, Iranian women have a 103rd rating out of 109 countries.
Adelman concludes by saying, “Finally, there are key domestic problems for Iran. Beset by massive corruption, blatant authorianism, strong opposition group (the Green Movement), large-scale emigration (4-5 million Iranians) and a rising young generation not enamored of isolation from the world, the future does not look bright.”
However, he admits that the fear of Iran getting nuclear weapons is still very real. Nevertheless, he says the notion that the biggest power in the world, plus three significant regional powers, could handle Iran if they would put their minds to it, is even more real.
