How Iran built its military and weapons over decades of conflict

NewsWorldMiddle EastHow Iran built its military and weapons over decades of conflictThe Islamic Republic’s offensive capabilities have been built up over nearly 50 yearsPaul J. Springer The Conversation Thursday 16 April 2026 02:13 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2958625","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-war-us-israel-military-weapons-b2958625.html","title":"How Iran built its military and weapons over decades of conflict"}}CloseTrump’s Iran war could trigger global recession, IMF warnsOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Middle East","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"}}Six weeks of U.S. and Israeli bombardment have served to degrade Iran’s nuclear facilities and...