Key Lesson From Ukraine War

Date: 22 May 2022 - 22:09

News ID: ۱۰۲۸۸۲

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Iran is watching closely events in Ukraine with a focus on missile technology and warfare – Russia has launched nearly 2,000 ballistic and cruise missiles during its ongoing war in Ukraine, a U.S. security website says.
The scope and scale of its barrage are unprecedented in the realm of 21st-century warfare, wrote online international affairs website 19FortyFive, a bipartisan U.S. defense, national security, and military-focused publication.
According to the website, Iran has witnessed Russia’s inability to project air superiority over Ukraine and observed its consequential reliance on its missile arsenal to maintain an upper hand over its perceived enemy. In recent years, the IRGC has depended on the development of its missile arsenal to serve as a critical tool of deterrence. Russia’s war in Ukraine has proved the merits of this strategy, 19FortyFive wrote.
In the last five years or so, it said, Iran’s missile arsenal has greatly expanded to include highly accurate ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. The IRGC has used its newly advanced arsenal to conduct attacks targeting Daesh terrorists in Syria as well as separatists and Zionist agents in northern Iraq.
Iran’s emphasis on its missile capabilities is even spelled out in an internal bulletin from the IRGC, the website said. It reads, “Missiles, by building the balance of fear, can prevent war and will force adversaries to resort to diplomacy.”
While this push to advance its missile arsenal began years before the Ukraine war, the ongoing conflict has strengthened Iran’s assertion, 19FortyFive wrote.
According to the Middle East Institute, Iran’s Deputy Chief of General Staff for the Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Aziz Nasirzade, referred to Russia’s use of missiles in Ukraine as a teachable moment. He added, “The key lesson from the Ukraine war is that you cannot close your eyes on deterrence

and talk about limiting your missile (military) power.”

Additionally, Russia’s constant bombardment of Ukraine has sidelined its Air Force’s weak display of airpower. Despite its poor performance in the skies, Russia’s missile barrage has caused large-scale destruction and setbacks for the Ukrainian army.

The logic that a country cannot depend on assurances from foreign powers to guarantee its security has molded Iran’s tactical priorities, 19FortyFive said.

The ongoing Vienna talks have been fruitless at best, and the Islamic Republic views these negotiations as precarious and unreliable anyway, the website said. In the eyes of Iran’s officials, the country’s growing and advancing missile power is the only way to achieve effective deterrence, it added.