Located
in the city of Miyaneh in the East Azerbaijan province in
northwestern Iran, the 36th independent brigade is, according to most
sources, armored, but has also been referred to as mechanized.
Parade
imagery from Army Day 2013 shows the use of BTR-60PB, and
Zu-23-2-armed Boragh air-defense APCs, the latter supplemented by
towed Zu-23-2s. Also visible is a motorcycle-based anti-tank
battalion armed with RPG-7s, whose apparent size is consistent with
an assumed strength of 27 bikes/Bn.
GEOINT
available from Google Earth dates from August 2010. The base covers a
large area on the south-eastern portion of the city of Miyaneh, and
is situated on Road 32 which connects Tehran, Qazvin, Tabriz, and
Bazargan near the Turkish Border.
There
is a scarcity of barracks-type buildings, only the four buildings
with red roofs in the eastern half of the compound fit the bill,
though there are additional apartments in the southern part of the
compound. Munitions storage can be found north of road 32.
Little
of the brigades armor is in view. Several pieces of bright-yellow
earth-moving equipment can be readily identified. (1) One or two AFVs
feature a large, rear-mounted turret with a long forward facing
barrel, suggesting an M109. (2) Eight M113s are visible in two
different groupings of four. (3) One or two BTR-60s are likely
visible as well. (4) Likewise, only one tank is visible, though can
be easily identified as a T-XX model thanks to it's circular turret.
(5) It is likely the rest of the battalion is under the adjacent
covered parking, which has enough room for around 40 tanks. It is
possible the large, square, indented buildings function as garages,
concealing the rest of the brigade's armor.
Works Cited
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