Iranvs North Korea
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, Iran (#16) holds a clear lead over North Korea (#31).
- North Korea has nuclear weapons; Iran has none.
- North Korea has destroyers; Iran has none.
- North Korea has 3× as many naval vessels.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyEven, 2–2
- Land forcesIran leads 3 of 5
- Air powerNorth Korea leads 5 of 7
- Naval forcesNorth Korea leads 3 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsNorth Korea leads 1 of 2
Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.
People and money
Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.
Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (Iran: 2.1% of GDP). * SIPRI publishes no figure for this country, so the Global Firepower budget estimate is shown instead.
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
Compare other countries
Related matchups
- North KoreavsSouth Korea
- IranvsIsrael
- IranvsSaudi Arabia
- United StatesvsIran
- United StatesvsNorth Korea
- TurkeyvsIran
- North KoreavsJapan
- PakistanvsIran
Profiles: Iran and North Korea. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.