Iran and Israel’s military size compared after fears of all-out war | World News [Video]

Years of ‘shadow warfare’ between Israel and Iran are threatening more than ever to spill out into open conflict.

Tehran carried out its first ever direct strikes on Israel, sending drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly strike on its consulate in Syria.

Iran has since outwardly tried to de-escalate the situation, loudly insisting it ‘completed its objectives’ despite the fact 99% of its 300 aerial weapons were intercepted.

On paper, Israel has a number of key advantages in terms of conventional firepower that might explain why its enemy seems to want to avoid all-out war.

But experts say a sizeable chunk of Iran’s military strength lies in its ‘third-party’ forces: the network of militias and insurgents doing its bidding in the region.

In terms of troop numbers, the Iranian Armed Forces are the largest in the Middle East.

They count 587,000 active personnel and 200,000 reservists, according to the most recent annual assessment by the London-based …