Treasurer strand

With one stroke, half of Saudi oil production stopped, and black gold prices rose unprecedentedly in global markets, and attention again turned to the Gulf region amid a deep escalation of tension between the two major countries in the region, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

While many hold their breath pending the unfolding of the current escalation between the two countries, indications are increasing and sometimes varying about the imminence of a military confrontation between the two countries located on both banks of hot Gulf waters.

With the unprecedented state of tension in the region in general and between Saudi Arabia and Iran in particular, many question the balance of military power between the two countries, and the capabilities and fortunes of each of them in resolving any military confrontation coming in its favor. 

In the next report, we shed light on the military capabilities and balance of power between the two countries in terms of human and logistical capabilities, based on the latest data published by the American "Global Firepower" website, which specializes in monitoring the strength of armies around the world.

Global ranking
Iran is ahead of Saudi Arabia in the global ranking, for the Global Firepower site, ranking 14th globally out of 137 countries, while Saudi Arabia ranks 25th globally.

The site relies on its classification and ranking of countries on more than 50 criteria, to determine the degree of strength index for armies, including the success of missions and the strength and efficiency of military force and techniques of manufacturing fighter aircraft and tanks, marine parts and other equipment, financial and human resources, geographical location, economic situation, natural resources, level Public health, the number of manpower and reserves, as well as the military data for each country, depends on its declared military capabilities.

Manpower
The disparity between the two countries appears great in terms of human capabilities according to the site, where the population of Iran exceeds 83 million, while the population of Saudi Arabia is slightly over 33 million, and the number of the workforce in Iran exceeds 47 million, while less than 18 million in Saudi.

As for the workforce eligible for military service, the number in Iran reaches about 40 million, while the number is slightly more than 16 million in Saudi Arabia.

In terms of numerical strength, number of soldiers, and reserve soldiers, the total number of Saudi army personnel in service is around 230,000, and the site has not provided any data on the number of reserve soldiers in the Saudi army.

As for the Iranian army, it consists of about 523 thousand soldiers, in addition to 350 thousand in reserve, and it is thus one of the largest armies in the Middle East.

The defense budget in Saudi Arabia is about 70 billion, while it is less than 7 billion dollars in Iran, and while Iran's external debt has reached about 8 billion dollars, the external debt of Saudi Arabia will rise to about 205 billion dollars.

The Air Force
Saudi Arabia surpasses Iran in the number of military aircraft, as it has 848 military aircraft, while Iran has only 509 military aircraft.

Saudi Arabia has 244 interceptor combat aircraft, while Iran has only 142. On the other hand, Iran excels in the number of military transport aircraft over Saudi Arabia, as it has 89 military transport aircraft, while Saudi Arabia has only 49.

Tanks and artillery
The site’s numbers and data give Iran a major progress over Saudi Arabia in the number of tanks, as it has 1634, compared to 1062 tanks for Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh is significantly superior to it in the number of armored combat vehicles, as Saudi Arabia has 11100 vehicles, while Iran does not exceed 2345 .

Saudi Arabia also excels, but not by a large difference in the number of self-propelled guns, as it possesses 705 of them, compared to 570 for Iran, but the latter has 2128 artillery from trailer artillery compared to 1818 for Saudi Arabia. The bonn shows a large number of missile launchers, compared to 1900 for Iran, Saudi Arabia has only 122.

Naval forces
 The difference between the two neighboring countries also appears in the number of naval vessels, as Iran possesses 398 military naval vessels compared to only 55 for Saudi Arabia.

While neither country has an aircraft carrier or destroyers, Iran has 34 submarines, while Saudi Arabia does not have any submarine, according to site statistics and data.

Regarding frigates, the Saudi naval force is slightly ahead of its Iranian counterpart by having 7 frigates, compared to 6 for Iran.

Both countries have 3 minesweepers ships, and almost two cruisers (4 for Saudi Arabia and 3 for Iran), but Iran is vastly superior in number of patrol ships (88 vs. 9 for Saudi Arabia).

Oil
In the field of oil, which is the most important source of money in the two countries, the cuff appears to be highly likely in favor of Saudi Arabia in production and export and reserves, as Saudi Arabia produces more than 10 million barrels per day, while it is not known precisely the size of Iranian production at the present time.

And Iran's oil exports fell to less than 500 thousand barrels per day, after it was more than 4 million before Washington left the nuclear agreement and imposed sanctions on Tehran.

Saudi Arabia consumes 3 million barrels of oil per day, compared to about 1.9 million barrels in Iran.

Saudi Arabia's proven oil reserves are estimated at 266.5 billion barrels, compared to 158.4 billion barrels in Iran.