Israel and Iran have long been two contentious military powers in the Middle East. It’s no secret that these two countries do not care for each other in the slightest, even coming to blows in recent years with missile strikes. As tensions simmer in the Middle East, the real question is how these two countries would stack up against each other, considering Israel’s cutting-edge technology and missile defense systems against Iran’s larger manpower and missile arsenal. Here, 24/7 Wall St. is taking a closer look at how these countries match up across multiple sectors ranging from military prowess to economic strength.

To compare Israel and Iran, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2025 Military Strength Ranking from Global Firepower, an annually updated defense-related statistics website with information on 145 countries. Global Firepower ranked 145 countries based on their PowerIndex, a composite of over 60 measures in categories such as military might, financials, logistical capability, and geography. The smaller the PowerIndex value the more powerful a nation’s theoretical conventional fighting capability is. We included multiple factors in the comparison across different fields ranging from economics, land power, air power, and naval power, as well as a few others to give a full picture to how these countries measure up.

Here is a look at how Israel and Iran compare on these fronts:

Why Are We Covering This?

In this rapidly evolving world, the comparison of military power between countries serves as a measure of global stability. This analysis is important not just for understanding each nation’s defense capabilities but also should an offensive conflict arise. While superpowers like the United States, China, and Russia dominate headlines with their military resources, other nations also play important roles in regional security dynamics and geopolitical relations. This analysis seeks to understand these countries from a base level of assets, resources, manpower, and economics.

Israel Military Strength

• Strength score: 0.2661
• Global strength rank: #15 out of 145

Iran Military Strength

• Strength score: 0.3048
• Global strength rank: #16 out of 145

Israel Financials

• Purchasing power parity: $471,030,000,000
• Foreign exchange reserves and gold: $204,661,000,000
• Defense budget: $30,500,000,000 – #17 out of 145
• External debt: 148,500,000,000

Iran Financials

• Purchasing power parity: $1,440,000,000,000
• Foreign exchange reserves and gold: $120,600,000,000
• Defense budget: $15,450,000,000 – #25 out of 145
• External debt: 4,134,926,000

Israel Population

• Total population: 9,402,617
• Population reaching military age: 131,637
• Population fit-for-service: 3,281,513

Iran Population

• Total population: 88,386,937
• Population reaching military age: 1,414,191
• Population fit-for-service: 41,541,860

Israel Manpower

• Active personnel: 170,000
• Air Force personnel: 89,000
• Army personnel: 526,000
• Navy personnel: 19,500
• Reserve personnel: 465,000
• Paramilitary forces: 35,000
• Total military personnel: 670,000

Iran Manpower

• Active personnel: 610,000
• Air Force personnel: 42,000
• Army personnel: 350,000
• Navy personnel: 18,500
• Reserve personnel: 350,000
• Paramilitary forces: 220,000
• Total military personnel: 1,180,000

Israel Air Power

• Total aircraft: 611
• Fighter aircraft: 240
• Attack aircraft: 38
• Transport aircraft: 13
• Special-mission aircraft: 19
• Tanker aircraft: 14
• Trainer aircraft: 159
• Helicopters: 147
• Attack helicopters: 48

Iran Air Power

• Total aircraft: 551
• Fighter aircraft: 188
• Attack aircraft: 21
• Transport aircraft: 87
• Special-mission aircraft: 10
• Tanker aircraft: 6
• Trainer aircraft: 103
• Helicopters: 128
• Attack helicopters: 13

Israel Land Forces

• Total military vehicles: 35,985
• Tanks: 1,300
• Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS): 183
• Self-propelled artillery: 352
• Towed artillery: 171
• Total artillery: 523

Iran Land Forces

• Total military vehicles: 65,825
• Tanks: 1,713
• Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS): 1,517
• Self-propelled artillery: 392
• Towed artillery: 2,070
• Total artillery: 2,462

Israel Naval Forces

• Total naval assets: 62
• Total naval tonnage: 38,238
• Aircraft carriers: 0
• Helicopter carriers: 0
• Destroyers: 0
• Frigates: 0
• Corvettes: 7
• Submarines: 5
• Off-shore patrol vessels: 46
• Mine warfare vessels: 0

Iran Naval Forces

• Total naval assets: 107
• Total naval tonnage: 223,395
• Aircraft carriers: 0
• Helicopter carriers: 0
• Destroyers: 0
• Frigates: 7
• Corvettes: 3
• Submarines: 25
• Off-shore patrol vessels: 21
• Mine warfare vessels: 1

Israel Natural Resources

• Oil production: 15,000 BBL / day
• Oil proven reserves: 12,730,000 BBL / day
• Natural gas production: 22,886,000,000 cubic meters
• Natural gas proven reserves: 176,018,000,000 cubic meters
• Coal production: 0 metric tons
• Coal proven reserves: 0 metric tons

Iran Natural Resources

• Oil production: 3,985,000 BBL / day
• Oil proven reserves: 208,600,000,000 BBL / day
• Natural gas production: 263,280,000,000 cubic meters
• Natural gas proven reserves: 33,987,000,000,000 cubic meters
• Coal production: 2,791,000 metric tons
• Coal proven reserves: 1,203,000,000 metric tons

Israel Logistics

• Labor force: 4,554,000
• Merchant Marine fleet: 41
• Ports: 5
• Airports: 37
• Roadway coverage: 20,391 km
• Railway coverage: 1,497 km
• Waterway coverage: 0 km

Iran Logistics

• Labor force: 29,159,000
• Merchant Marine fleet: 965
• Ports: 18
• Airports: 173
• Roadway coverage: 223,485 km
• Railway coverage: 8,484 km
• Waterway coverage: 850 km

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