Comparative Analysis of the Military Capabilities, Defense Industries and Defense Budgets of Saudi Arabia and Iran

Abstract

Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two major powers of the security sub-complex of the Persian Gulf have competed with each other in the region for a while, and recently also outside the region. Since this area is critically important for the oil supply of the world, the rivalry itself gets global attention, too. The rivalry of the two countries is compared to the Cold War by many – not unjustifiably. Iran and Saudi Arabia are fighting proxy wars similar to those of the Cold War, the richer one (Saudi Arabia) is trying to weaken the other by economic means, and if the word ‘ideology’ is replaced by ‘religion’, then the fundamentally and antagonistically contradicting worldviews are also given. However, it is true that mutual deterrence is not guaranteed by nuclear weapons (yet). Apart from the latter, both states have considerable land, air and naval forces. This analysis compares the defense budgets, defense industries and military capabilities of the two countries.