On January 15, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched several loitering munitions, ballistic missiles, and rockets during a military exercise in the country’s northeastern Dasht-e-Kavir desert. In the drill, named Prophet Mohammad 15, the IRGC struck static targets with several suicide drones and twelve or more Zolfaghar, Zelzal, and Dezful ballistic missiles. According to Iranian state media,...
On September 27, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Division displayed a new antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) in an exhibition of aerospace weapons. Featuring an enlarged booster, Iran claims the Zolfaghar Basir missile ranges 700 km, over doubles Iran’s earlier antiship missiles. Related Links: Iran unveils enhanced ballistic missile as tensions rise with US,...
On August 20, Iran displayed new ballistic and cruise missiles as part of its National Defense Industry Day. In an announcement to state television, Iranian officials revealed footage of the “Martyr Hajj Qassem,” a solid-fueled ballistic missile named for slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. In addition, Iran unveiled a cruise missile named for Abu Mahdi...
On July 29, Iranian state media announced the country’s Revolutionary Guard successfully conducted live-fire missile tests. In the exercise, designated “Great Prophet 14,” Iranian forces displayed a variety of ballistic missiles and destroyed mockups of an aircraft carrier and air defense radar with bombs and missiles. According to an IRGC commander, the exercises are expected to...
On August 20, Iran displayed new ballistic and cruise missiles as part of its National Defense Industry Day. In an announcement to state television, Iranian officials revealed footage of the “Martyr Hajj Qassem,” a solid-fueled ballistic missile named for slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. In addition, Iran unveiled a cruise missile named for Abu Mahdi...
On January 8, 2020, Iran used ballistic missiles to attack U.S. air bases in Iraq, in response to the U.S.-targeted killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani. The attack against U.S. bases in Iraq demonstrates that Tehran continues to rely on its missile forces as a tool for signaling, diplomacy,...
On January 7, Iran fired at least 16 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. military and coalition personnel. The salvo launch — which reportedly involved the Qiam and Fateh-313 missiles — targeted Iraq’s Ain al-Assad airbase and a Special Operations facility in Erbil. According to a U.S. officials, 11 missiles struck Ain...
In discussions of Iran’s regional missile proliferation, Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels tend to dominate the conversation. This focus is for good reason: Hezbollah today possesses an estimated 130,000 rockets and short-range missiles, and the Houthis have fired over 250 projectiles into Saudi Arabia since 2015. Yet Iran’s strategy of arming proxies with rockets...
On October 1, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a total of six Zolfaghar and Qiam-1 missiles from its western Kermanshah region on ISIL locations in Syria’s Deir al-Zour province. Iranian state media reported that the strike killed a number of actors and planners of a September 22 terrorist attack on an Iranian military parade in...
On August 31, Reuters reported that Iran has transferred tens of Zelzal, Fateh-110, and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles to Shi’ite proxies in Iraq over the past few months. Iran may also be developing missile production infrastructure in Iraq. According to some sources reported by the news wire, “a decision was made some 18 months ago to...
