Iran’s armed forces consists of a multitude of different services, including the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, an Air Defense Force which is responsible for providing an anti-aircraft security net, and a law enforcement branch. This structure remains somewhat similar to the Shah-era military structure, save for the Air Defense Force which became its own branch separate from the Air Force in 2008, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which contains its own ground force, navy, and aerospace force. In addition to the IRGC’s other branches is the Quds Force, which performs asymmetrical warfare abroad, and the Basij, a paramilitary unit. These branches all have personnel equipped with various different types of tactical equipment, with many pieces acquired pre-Islamic Revolution transferring over to the newly formed Iranian Army.
MENA
The Furniture of the Middle East
Throughout the MENA region, we see the private sale of firearms online but they often get in the way of the more interesting things in the photographs – the furniture! In this article, we will examine some of the vibrant and varied furniture spotted in numerous Middle-Eastern countries, written as a joint project by several Silah Report contributors.
Silah Report On Reaper Feed – Darra Adam Khel
Miles Vining, our Khan in Chief, has written a guest article for Reaper Feed looking at the legendary ‘Khyber Pass region and its firearms history. Miles discusses the region’s history as a hub for handmade firearms, why the term ‘Khyber Pass’ is increasingly misrepresentative, and the importance of the region’s focal point Darra Adam Khel as a manufacturing hub that blends traditional and modern production methods. Miles looks at the culture, production methods and industry of Darra as well as how the region is continuing to change – as it always has – to meet new trends and demands within the local firearms culture.
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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Small Arms Symbology of Syrian Opposition Forces (2011-2020)
The Syrian Civil War is an extremely complex conflict, not least in terms of its innumerable state and non-state actors, armed groups, popular militias and foreign contractors. Despite the obvious confusing chaos and dreadful complexity caused by a large number of participants it does offer a representative sample frame for academic research. For any researcher looking for a realistic subset of armed factions and political movements within the wider region, Syria provides an interesting case study. In this exclusive series, I examined Syrian armed groups from across the entire political spectrum who at one point or another during the war featured a firearm in their official crest. My goal is to present a statistical overview of the small arms used in this military imagery, and to share some interesting information I was able to deduct.
V23: Interview with Vernon Easley on Martini-Henry Rifle Production in Afghanistan
On the 23rd episode of the Silah Report Podcast, Miles interviews Vernon Easley and together they discuss the history of Martini rifles in Afghanistan as well as the new book he co-authored with N.R. Jenzen-Jones: THE EMIR’S NEW RIFLES: A HISTORY OF THE KABUL ARSENAL, 1885 – 1925. The discussion is incredibly rich with knowledge and in-depth research done not only on historical firearms in the region but also on the culture and history of the region itself.
The public SoundCloud version below includes the first forty-six minutes of the podcast, our supporters on Patreon can access the entire interview, which is one hour and 14 minutes long! So if you haven’t already please support us in our mission to bring you the best examination of MENA small arms culture we can!
V20: Post Shot Show 2020 Episode
In this episode, Miles, Matthew Moss (historian, author and Silah Report’s Editor) and Nate (one of our great patrons) discussed a variety of interesting firearms and equipment they noticed in SHOT Show 2020.
Does a Sinister Symbol on a Remington Rolling Block Hint at its Role as an Executioner’s Weapon?
‘If walls could talk’ is a popular idiom to express the desire of wanting to know more about what happened in a certain place. But what if weapons could talk? What could tell us their experiences on the field of battle? There’s at least one rifle whose story would be downright horrific, a sinister engraved symbol on its receiver a faint witness of long gone atrocities.
6 Interesting MENA Firearms Seen in October 2019 Morphy Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction Catalog
Morphy Auctions is one of the largest American auction houses and every year hosts multiple firearms auctions. Among these auctions, the most prominent ones in terms of the amount and significance of consigned lots are the Morphy Extraordinary Firearms Auctions. Browsing the catalogs of these auctions you can find a huge variety of rare, unique and historically significant guns – from old muzzleloading firearms to modern machine guns and everything in between. We browsed the online catalog of the upcoming October 2019 Extraordinary, Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction and found some of the most interesting lots related to the MENA region.
V12 Silah Report Podcast: Patreon Questions and Large ISIS Arsenal Captured
In the 12th episode of Silah Report Podcast we were joined by Adham, Vlad, Daniel, Miles, Ataka, MENA, Analyst Mick, and Abdullah Khyber. We answered four questions submitted by Patreon supporters of Silah Report and discussed an ISIS weapons and munitions cache recently captured by Iraqi security forces.
If you’d like to have your questions answered by our panel please support Silah Report on Patreon and submit questions as often as you like!
If you missed last week’s episode, you can find it here.