Iran Claims Military Self-Sufficiency Amidst Concerns Over Arms Exports

Despite Western arms embargoes, an Iranian army commander says Tehran has achieved self-sufficiency to export military equipment amidst global sanctions.

The announcement by Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the Coordinating Deputy of the Islamic Republic's Army shows the disregard for arms embargoes imposed by the United States and the European Union, the military chief saying on Thursday that "the capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially in the field of military equipment, have grown and developed."

The United Nations Security Council's Resolution 2231 enforced a conventional arms embargo on Iran which expired in October 2020. Despite former President Donald Trump's efforts to extend the embargo after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018, the Security Council rejected the proposal, allowing Iran to resume arms exports, but a full embargo from the EU, from 2007, remains in place.

The expiration of UN sanctions on Iran's missile program in October has also raised concerns about the accelerated proliferation of potentially dangerous weapons. Iran is now free to sell its drones, ballistic missiles, and related long-range strike technologies to its anti-Western partners and clients and can also procure technology for further development.

The lifting of sanctions provides Iran with the opportunity to generate revenue from missile sales, potentially using the profits to finance militant and terror proxies in the Middle East.