Ilya Tsukanov
SPUTNIK INTERNATIONAL
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Going Ballistic: What are Iran’s Medium-Range Missile Capabilities?
Committing never to build nuclear weapons or other WMDs on religious grounds, Iran has come to rely on its ballistic and cruise missile arsenal as its main means of strategic defense. The US and its allies have repeatedly tried to rein in the Islamic Republic’s missile developments by treaty, but to no avail.
The Kheibar-Shekan is a not-so-subtle reference to the Battle of Kheibar between followers of the Prophet Muhammad and Jewish tribesmen who barricaded themselves in a series of forts at an oasis in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula in the year 628 CE.
Iran's Other Medium-Range Missiles
The Ashura –a solid-fueled two-stage strategic medium-range ballistic missile with a 2,000-2,500 km operational range developed in the late 2000s, but without MaRV capability onboard.
The Fajr-3, a medium-range radar-evading, multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV)-equipped ballistic missile with a range of up to 2,000 km. This missile is liquid-fueled, meaning a longer preparation time and higher maintenance requirements.
The Fattah 1, Iran’s new hypersonic, maneuvering medium-range missile with a 350-450 kg payload and a 1,400 km range (Iran plans to extend the range by up to 600 km). First unveiled in the summer of 2023.
Iran's new Fattah 2' Hypersonic Missile. (Fars Media)
The Kheibar (Khorramshahr-4) – a medium-range ballistic missile introduced in 2023 with a massive 1,500 kg warhead (enough to destroy deep fortifications and heavy entrenchments) and a 2,000 km range. The missile is powered by a liquid-fueled engine. Constitutes the latest development of the Khorramshahr family of medium-range ballistic missiles.
The Shahab-3 ER, another liquid-fueled medium-range missile with a 1,000-2,000 km range developed in the 2000s which can be fitted with a 1,200 kg warhead, or up to five separate 280 kg warheads in a MIRV arrangement. Another derivative of the Shahab-3 series is the Emad, which was unveiled in 2015 and features a 750 kg warhead. Can be fired at targets up to 1,700 km away.
The Sejjil – a solid-fuel inertial-GPS-guided medium-range ballistic missile with a range of at least 2,500 km (and by some accounts up to 4,500 km) and a 500-1,500 kg warhead.
Shorter Range Missiles in Iran’s Arsenal
These include the Fateh-110 – a solid fuel rocket with a 300 km range and a 500 kg warhead which it has used extensively against a Mossad intel-gathering center in Erbil, Iraq in March 2022, and reportedly used again in the IRGC attack this week – again targeting a “spy headquarters” belonging to the Israeli intelligence agency.
*(Fars Media/ IRGC)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR / SOURCEIlya Tsukanov is a correspondent with Sputnik International and other Russian media focused on strategic developments.
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