Ali Atef‏‏

In a meeting with Iran's scientific elite on November 17, 2021, the former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei set out his vision on developing his country's capabilities in artificial intelligence. Khamenei called for Iran to become one of the top ten countries globally in this field, stating that it is a "strategic technology that will play a fundamental role in managing and shaping the future". He also urged Iranian universities and schools to enhance their focus on this field through in-depth scientific research, innovation, and <a href="https://kayhan.ir/fa/news/294979/%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%A2%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%88-%D9%86%D9%82%D8%B4%D9%87-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%DB%8C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">development</a>. Since that meeting, Iranian government institutions have undertaken the task of bolstering the country's AI capabilities at an accelerated pace, given the significance attached to the former Supreme Leader’s directives.A few years later, the government in Tehran outlined a national strategy for research and development in AI, driven by Iran’s expanding political, security, and military conflicts in the region and beyond, as well as competition with neighboring countries that had announced ambitious plans to strengthen their capabilities in the same field. In this context, Iran not only focused on developing technical AI capabilities, but also employed them militarily. In July 2023, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the production of a domestically manufactured missile equipped with <a href="https://spnfa.ir/20231220/%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A8-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B4%DA%A9%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%B2-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86--19076083.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AI technologies</a>, marking a significant step in Iran’s military AI program. This program subsequently expanded in both scope and prominence, becoming particularly visible in the lead-up to the June 2025 war and then later during the ongoing conflict that erupted in February 2026.Accelerated StepsIran's growing interest in developing its domestic AI capabilities has become increasingly evident in recent years, as follows:1. Political and Legislative Approvals: Following the directives issued by the former Supreme Leader in 2021, the Iranian government has begun taking several measures aimed at strengthening the country's AI capabilities. The most prominent of these steps was the launch of a "<a href="https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/2066342/%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%A7-%D8%AD%D8%B0%D9%81-%D9%86%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%84%DB%8C-%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%DB%8C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Organization of Artificial Intelligence</a>" in July 2024, in a ceremony attended by the then-acting Iranian President, Mohammad Mokhbar. This launch followed a "National Document on Artificial Intelligence" issued in December 2023 by hardline President Ebrahim Raisi before his death. At the time, Mokhbar announced that the organization's goal was to propel Iran into the ranks of the top ten countries globally in AI. Subsequently, the government strengthened the organization's administrative and financial independence, and the President's Office assumed direct oversight of its management.In March 2025—three months before the 12-day war with the United States and Israel—Hossein Afshin, the Iranian President's Vice President for Science and Technology, took a further step in this direction by launching the "<a href="https://snn.ir/fa/news/1246642/%D8%AD%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B4%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%A8-%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%84-%D9%85%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%AF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National AI Experimental Platform</a>". The platform aimed to create a national operating system based on open-source software, with its electronic components developed entirely domestically, so as to ensure service continuity even in the event of a global internet outage.Meanwhile, the government in Tehran worked on enacting laws to regulate the digital sphere. For example, the judiciary in Tehran, in cooperation with the reformist government of President Masoud Pezeshkian, passed the "Combating the Dissemination of Fake News Content" law, which was quickly approved by the parliament in July 2025. This legislation aimed to tighten control over social media platforms and AI tools, but widespread domestic criticism ultimately <a href="https://www.irna.ir/news/85903809/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AD%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%B9-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%81%D8%B6%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">prompted</a> its repeal. Simultaneously, the Iranian government extended the application of the 2009 "Cybercrime Law" to include AI. In recent years, parliament has also passed laws preventing the transfer of citizens’ vital information abroad, while parliamentary committees are currently considering new bills to prevent government data from being leaked.2. Allocating Substantial Financial Resources: The Iranian government has allocated significant funds to enhance its AI capabilities. To achieve this, Tehran relies on funding from the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI), Iran’s sovereign wealth fund, established in 2011 to utilize oil and gas revenues for financing mega projects.Initially, Iran allocated a budget of $100 million to support AI infrastructure during the fiscal year from March 2024 to March 2025. This followed an allocation of $83 million by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution for the same purpose, upon the approval of the aforementioned National Document on Artificial Intelligence. A major government funding increase came in January 2025, when $115 million was announced to support the country's AI <a href="https://tejaratnews.com/%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AA-%DB%B4-%D9%87%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%88" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">capabilities</a> in research institutes, universities, and tech companies.3. Integrating Technologies into the Weapons Arsenal: Integrating AI technologies into the development of weapons and missiles is one of the most prominent aspects of Iran's interest in developing this field. Tehran has intensified its use of these technologies in missile guidance systems and drone swarm management, driven by the escalating conflict and confrontations with Israel and the United States in recent years. The IRGC and the Iranian Army have also worked to integrate these technologies into their military arsenals, considering them a key outcome of the country's development in this sector. The practical beginning of this military trend was marked by the Iranian Army's announcement in January 2025 that it had received approximately one thousand modern drones, which were distributed among its four branches.Motivating FactorsThere are numerous factors driving Iran’s efforts to advance its AI capabilities, which can be summed up as follows:1. Building Systems Independent from the West: Following the 2021 directives from Khamenei described above, Iranian government institutions took serious steps to reduce the country’s dependence on Western technology and build its own systems. In the face of Western sanctions across various sectors, including technology, Iran has sought to localize AI technologies and software and build an independent technological ecosystem. This approach is intended to limit Iran’s exposure to Western surveillance and potential security vulnerabilities that could arise from reliance on Western technology.2. Strengthening Domestic Security Control: The Mahsa Amini protests, which erupted in Iran in 2022, marked a significant turning point in Iran's development of its AI capabilities. Digital media played a prominent role in organizing these protests, especially in their early stages, prompting Iran to pay particular attention to monitoring and controlling this space. Consequently, Tehran sought to develop artificial intelligence capabilities to institutionalize internal repression without the need for direct security confrontations.These technologies are employed to maintain strict surveillance of protesters and dissidents, both online and on the streets. This surveillance is reinforced by a network of interconnected cameras capable of facial recognition using national biometric identity cards. Furthermore, the Iranian government employs advanced drones equipped with artificial intelligence software to monitor any protest gatherings or public crowds, identify and track their organizers, and electronically monitor them in preparation for their arrest or assassination.3. Upgrading Military and Intelligence Capabilities: This is one of Tehran's main motivations for developing artificial intelligence capabilities. Given its ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States, both of which have made significant advances in this field, Iran has sought to integrate AI technologies into its military. For example, during the recent war that erupted in February 2026, Iran has <a href="https://www.tasnimnews.ir/fa/news/1405/01/15/3556522/%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%AC%D9%86%DA%AF-%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B9%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%87%D9%88%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9%DB%8C-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">employed</a> these capabilities to enhance the accuracy of its ballistic missiles and drones, reflecting its efforts to transform its conventional weapons into intelligent systems capable of autonomous reasoning and decision-making.Tehran equips the warheads of its ballistic missiles with cameras that store maps and images of targets, significantly reducing the margin of error. The same applies, to some extent, to the operation of its drones, which rely on automatic target recognition from stored images without requiring external guidance. Tehran also equips them with artificial intelligence programs capable of distinguishing between military vehicles and civilian infrastructure, thus targeting specific objectives without direct human intervention.4. Employing AI to Launch Cyber ​​Attacks: Alongside its use of AI in developing military capabilities, Iran is also using AI software to enhance the quality of its cyberattacks against its adversaries. This involves shifting from traditional methods to more sophisticated and complex cyberattacks that are difficult to detect. Iran has primarily directed these <a href="https://parsi.euronews.com/2026/05/31/irans-military-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-cyberattacks-and-the-battlefield" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">attacks</a> against the United States and Israel, while occasionally extending them to some European countries, as demonstrated by the current conflict that erupted in February 2026. These operations mainly target government websites in other countries, as well as hacking the personal phones of foreign officials and leaking their data.For example, Iran employs social engineering techniques to hack the phones of foreign officials. Its cyber groups—most notably "Hanzala"—create fake accounts on social media platforms such as X, using AI-generated profile pictures. This recruitment is not limited to hacking and cyberattacks. Iranian cyber groups also use cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence technologies to produce deepfake videos and fabricate audio recordings of foreign officials to exert pressure and sow chaos. Simultaneously, Iran manages thousands of fake social media accounts using AI to appear legitimate, employing them to spread chaos and disinformation in other countries.Current ObstaclesIn conclusion, Iran’s growing reliance on AI has contributed to the transformation of both its military capabilities and domestic security apparatus. However, Tehran may struggle to sustain this technological progress in the coming years due to a combination of external restrictions and domestic constraints. Most notably, stringent US export controls have restricted Iran’s access to the advanced electronic chips needed to integrate AI software into smart drones. Although Iran has succeeded in smuggling some of these components into the country, it has been unable to obtain them in the quantities required. Its access to advanced technologies is further constrained by restrictions preventing major companies such as Microsoft and Google from providing their services in Iran. These external pressures are compounded by the country’s high rate of brain drain, particularly among skilled professionals and technical specialists, which could gradually erode the pool of expertise needed to develop and manage such technological projects.

What Drives Iran’s Growing Focus on Artificial Intelligence?