![]() ![]() In 1971, Iran was already looking for a modern Main battle Tank, and was adviced at some point by General Israel Tal, who worked closely with the British in the Anglo-Israeli Chieftain project. The development lenght of the whole program ensured in the end, the order was cancelled by the new regime of the Ayatholla in February 1979, leading to a serious impediment in the UK. A rampart against an always possible Soviet invasion of the region or soviet-supported neighbouring regimes. The latter became an intermediate between the Chieftain 5 and the early Challenger I, while the next Shir-2 was to be an Iranian "Challenger 2", for a total order of 1,200 main battle tanks, which would have been without a doubt the best tank force at that time in the whole middle east. Among these were famously the controversial sell of USN F-14 Tomcats and for Great Britain, its latest and best main battle tank, the Chieftain Mark 5 and a modernized version, the "Shir". The years preceding the Islamic revolution in Iran, toppling the Shah in 1979, saw considerable, modern armaments being delivered to a regime that was contested at home and on which the western powers still tried to inflex its increasingly authoritarian derive and ultiple human rights violations. ![]() ![]() The Iranian "Lion", hybrid Main Battle Tank ![]()
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