AI at the Crossroads: The India-Israel Defense Cooperation and Its Strategic Implications for Iran

Abstract

This article discusses how artificial intelligence AI-led defense cooperation is creating a new trilateral relationship among India, Israel, and Iran. It explores the consequences of growing strategic and technological cooperation between India and Israel, specifically in the field of AI-boosted military capabilities, and how it is already altering power dynamics in the region, causing strategic tension in Iran. Based on the Neorealist theory, the paper evaluates the role of AI as a force multiplier in the defense, which alters the conventional precedents of deterrence, surveillance, and alliances. It uses qualitative case analysis and process tracing to evaluate the effort of India to achieve technological independence, and the export-driven innovation policy of Israel, and compares it to the limited but innovative reactions of Iran to sanctions and geopolitical isolation. The paper holds that militarization of AI will deepen the regional security dilemma, bend the traditional arms control norms, and prompt the emergence of novel asymmetric and technological containments. Finally, the paper has pointed to the strategic rebalancing taking place in West and South Asia, which is not about troop deployments, but rather about algorithms, data supremacy, and predictive military services.

Key Words: Defense Cooperation, India-Israel Relations, Iran Security Strategy, Strategic Triangle, Cyber Warfare, Surveillance Systems, AI Militarization, Neorealism, Regional Security