Nations around the world are uncertain and anxious about Iran's intentions in the Middle East and the wider global arena. Its current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made no secret of his opposition to the West and to Israel, and his desire to pursue a nuclear programme. However, as the authors of this work point out, Ahmadinejad does not necessarily speak for the Iranian clerical regime, who directly control Iran's military, and who operate in a cloud of secrecy. Given the ambiguous nature of Iran's global objectives, this new study focuses on the tangible aspects of Iran's military forces and takes an objective look at the realistic threats that Iran poses the region and the world. The authors systematically assess each aspect of Iranian military forces from their conventional armies to their asymmetric threat via proxy wars in the region.Much attention in national security debates is paid to Iran's intentions without first understanding its capabilities. Lacking such a fundamental understanding, much of this speculation tends to be irrelevant to what could actually happen in the event of a conflict. This study provides, in meticulous detail, a realistic basis for understanding the threat that Iran poses in the Northern Gulf.