In our previous article we reviewed the history of different submachine guns which entered Iranian service during the Pahlavi era. In 1979, when the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown by Islamic Revolutionaries, many small arms purchased by the former regime continued their service with Artesh (armed forces) and newly branded armed forces such as Sepah Pasdaran (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps). There were a couple of submachine gun purchases made by the new regime in the 1980s from unknown sources, these purchases mostly were conducted by IRGC to arm their units, including a new unit called Ansar-Al Mahdi who are tasked with VIP protection as well Saberin and S.N.S.F. In this article, accompanied by an interview with the author on a recent episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we will examine the submachine gun platforms which entered Iranian service after the Islamic Revolution using photographic evidence.
Podcast
Silah Report Podcast V33: Iranian Submachine Guns (1941-1979)
During the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Iranian military and law enforcement were equipped with a variety of submachine guns of Western and Eastern origins. Some were locally produced while others were imported in limited numbers. The main Persian word to describe a submachine gun is mosalsal (مسلسل in the Persian alphabet) which loosely means a ‘small arm that shoots continuously’. Here we will take a close look at examples of submachine guns that were imported or produced locally by the Iranian government during the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi between 1941 to 1979 based on the existing information and photographic evidence. Also included in this article is a podcast interview with the piece’s author Yousef Riazi.
V31: Persian Fire and Steel With Dr. Manouchehr Khorasani
In this episode, Miles and Dr. Manouchehr Khorasani dive deep into the amazing history of firearms in Persia throughout different time periods as well as the cultural and religious relation with weapons. Dr. Khorasani is a historian who has delved deep into the history of Persian arms and armor, including Persian martial arts. He has an incredibly vast knowledge of the subjects and authored seven books and won three major book prizes.
V30: Israel’s Premier Attorney in Security Law – Perry Novotny
In Silah Report’s 30th and final podcast episode recorded in 2020, we interviewed an amazing guest from Israel, Perry Novotny. Perry is one of Israel’s premier security law attorneys, a former police instructor and a former member of the Israeli Defence Forces. In this episode, Perry enlightened us about the legal framework for firearms in Israel, gave us a deeper insight on the Israeli culture in relation to firearms in contrast to what is being seen on popular media and the selection of firearms in the security field (as well as his own taste in firearms).
Podcast V29: Michael – IDF Veteran Paratrooper of Yom Kippur War
Welcome to the 29th episode of the Silah Report Podcast! We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Michael, a former veteran paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces who participated in the Yom Kippur War (known in the Arab world as The October War). Michael shared his experiences in the IDF starting with his training, which had a lot of surprises hidden for us, all the way up to his role in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. We also enquired about the types and origins of firearms he encountered during his service that his Arab adversaries had used. Later on, Michael would end up serving as a firearms instructor (specializing in Warsaw Pact weaponry) and after that a firearms specialist for a private firm.
Note: The views of the individuals we interview on the Silah Report Podcast represent themselves only and not the views of Silah Report. In Silah Report, one of our core tenets is to remain apolitical and unbiased when it comes to our research. Indeed, in Silah Report we have members from different ethnicities, religions, and political views. We do not let our personal convictions affect the quality of the content we provide to our audience and we do our best to provide you with the most accurate and unbiased information available.
Podcast V26 – Part Six: From War to Another War: The October War, Abu Atwa Carnage, the Statue of Victory and the Pyramid of Peace
In this final part of our series looking at the work of Egyptian artist, Galal Abdo Hashem. If you missed earlier parts of the interview, you can find them here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. In this part we discuss the October War, the Statue of Victory and Galal’s future project – the Pyramid of Peace.
Podcast V26 – Part Five: The Statue of Defiance: Collecting Shrapnel and Speaking to Israelis
In this article we continue our interview with Egyptian artist Galal Abdo Hashem. In this part of our series we will examine Galal’s most famous work – the Statue of Defiance. If you missed earlier parts of the interview, you can find them here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four.
Podcast V26 – Part Four: Bombardment of Ismalia and Galal’s Close Calls
In this article we continue our interview with Egyptian artist Galal Abdo Hashem. When we reached the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition and October War in our interview with Galal, we tried to get all the possible details we could from him. In the end, he told us that he will speak about the notable incidents as he has many stories that would take months to cover. In this part of our series we will examine the bombardment of Ismalia in 1967. The city was bombarded throughout the War of Attrition, but Galal gave us a few incidents that mainly occurred in 1967 after the Six Day war.
If you missed earlier parts of the interview, you can find them here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.
Silah Report on High Caliber History Podcast
Our Khan in Chief, Miles Vining, was recently a guest on historian Logan Metesh’s High Caliber History podcast. The episode, titled “Khyber Pass Guns” is a No-No!, sees Miles and Logan discuss a whole range of subjects including the driving force behind Silah Report, Miles’ interest in MENA firearms and culture, why ‘Khyber Pass guns’ is a misnomer and Miles’ new book.
Here’s the description from Logan’s podcast:
Today’s guest is Miles Vining, one of the co-founders of Silah Report. He’s here to tell us why we should stop referring to Middle Eastern firearms copies as Khyber Pass guns, plus plenty of other great conversation!
You can buy Miles’ new book, Into Helmand with the Walking Dead, on Amazon.
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Podcast V28: Noori, The Iraqi Gun Engraving Artisan
Welcome to the 28th episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we recently had the pleasure of speaking with Noori, an artisan who runs a business of handcrafting decorations on firearms in Iraq. We have covered Noori’s interesting work in past articles here at Silah Report. To say that the quality of his artwork is incredibly professional and its quality is extremely beautiful would be an understatement. In our interview with him, we enquired in-depth abut Iraqi gun culture, his background, how he entered the field, his business in a war-torn country, the challenges he faced and what does think the future holds for him.