CONFLICTIQ
HEAD TO HEAD

Iran vs United Arab Emirates

Iran
54%
RAI
United Arab Emirates
46%

Verdict

Iran holds a 54–46 advantage over United Arab Emirates on the Relative Advantage Index.

The margin is driven by active personnel (88% of the combined total, 610.0k) and logistics & power projection (78% of the combined total, 76). United Arab Emirates leads on military spending and economic size (GDP).

1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.

Factor by factor

FactorIranShareUnited Arab EmiratesWeight
Military spending
SIPRI Milex
$7.4bn
25%75%
$22.8bn33%
Economic size (GDP)
World Bank WDI
$475bn
46%54%
$552bn27%
Active personnel
COW NMC
610.0k
88%12%
83.0k20%
Logistics & power projection
OurAirports
76
78%22%
2120%

Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.

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Neighbour rivalries (473)

Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.

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NigeriaEquatorial Guinea v Sao Tome and PrincipeEritrea v EthiopiaEritrea v Saudi ArabiaEritrea v SudanEritrea v YemenEstonia v FinlandEstonia v GermanyEstonia v LatviaEstonia v PolandEstonia v SwedenEswatini v MozambiqueEswatini v South AfricaEthiopia v KenyaEthiopia v SomaliaEthiopia v South SudanEthiopia v SudanEthiopia v YemenFiji v TongaFiji v TuvaluFinland v GermanyFinland v LatviaFinland v LithuaniaFinland v NorwayFinland v SwedenFrance v IrelandFrance v LuxembourgFrance v MonacoFrance v NetherlandsFrance v SwitzerlandFrance v TunisiaFrance v VaticanGabon v NigeriaGabon v Sao Tome and PrincipeGambia v SenegalGeorgia v RussiaGeorgia v TürkiyeGeorgia v UkraineGermany v HungaryGermany v LatviaGermany v LithuaniaGermany v LuxembourgGermany v NetherlandsGermany v NorwayGermany v SerbiaGermany v SwedenGermany v SwitzerlandGhana v NigeriaGhana v TogoGreece v LibyaGreece v MaltaGreece v North MacedoniaGrenada v GuyanaGrenada v St. Kitts and NevisGrenada v St. Vincent and the 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Sts. v PalauMicronesia, Fed. 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