,
Shahab-2,
Zolfaghar and
Dezful missiles The IRGC Aerospace Force is responsible for the operation of Iran's surface-to-surface (SSM) missile systems. In 2006 it was mentioned by
John Negroponte that Iran held the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the
Middle East. It is claimed to operate several thousand short- and medium-range mobile ballistic missiles, including the Shahab-3/3B with a range of up to 2,100 kilometers, which is the mainstay of Iran's strategic deterrent. This puts even NATO members Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania within striking range, if fired from Western Iran. If Iran ever produces nuclear weapons, they fall under the direct supervision of the Aerospace Force. Iran says that it has no intention of producing nuclear weapons. However, there is evidence which points otherwise. A stolen Iranian laptop, containing over 1000 pages of calculations, simulations and modifications required to make the Shahab-3
nose cone capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, was obtained by U.S. intelligence in 2004 and shown to
IAEA officials. Additionally, an interview with Alireza Assar, an Iranian physicist formerly tied with the Iranian ministry of defense, revealed the existence of a military nuclear program whose goal was "to produce enough HEU (
Highly Enriched Uranium) to enable the regime to produce nuclear weapons". Iran's continuous lack of transparency regarding their nuclear program has resulted in much suspicion regarding its intentions. According to the testimony of John Negroponte in 2006, Iran's ballistic missile development, together with its enhancement of the
navy is largely for the projection of its military power, with the goal of dominating the
Gulf region and maintaining its ability to deter and retaliate against adversaries, including the
United States. Additional reasons for the indigenous development of missiles may include the regime's intent to showcase its technological advancements, to intimidate and deter neighboring countries, and to reduce its reliance on precarious foreign supplies, particularly from
North Korea. The independent production of missiles in Iran can be traced back to at least 1997, when the country obtained missile plans and production components from
Russia and began constructing missile production facilities, including the two tunnels for housing
Scud missiles at Kuh-e-Padri, located along the Persian Gulf between
Bandar Abbas and
Bushehr. Additionally, Iran received assistance from
China in the construction of a ballistic missile plant and test range east of
Tehran, a production facility near
Semnan, "Iranian television footage showed at least 26 TELs lined up in two rows for the event, which marked their purported delivery to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, which operates the country's ballistic missiles", according to the report by
IHS Jane's. Any Iranian long-range
intermediate-range ballistic missile or
intercontinental ballistic missile would require an extraordinarily effective guidance system and level of reliability to have any real lethality with conventional warheads, even if it could be equipped with a functional GPS guidance platform. It would probably require nuclear warheads in order to compensate for critical problems in
accuracy, reliability, and warhead lethality.
Liquid fuel program After the war, Iran's experience of liquid fuel missiles had purely focused on the
reverse engineering of
Scud-B missiles. However, with the post war reorganisation the focus of the effort quickly changed and focused on assembly and maintenance. A domestic version of the Scud-B, known as
Shahab-1, was developed and manufactured. This led to its successor the
Shahab-2, a variant of the
Scud-C with a range of 500 to 700 km, and finally the
Shahab-3. Since the end of the war, Iran has consistently attempted to recruit foreign help, as well as its expatriate population, into its missile program. Iranian expatriates who left with the revolution have been slow to return, but many are now doing so and thus heralding a new age for Iran's missile development programme.
Other missile systems Iran has an arsenal of short-range, liquid-fueled missiles including the
Scud-B and
Scud-C, and is now able to produce SCUD type missiles on its own, such as the R-17E, a variant of the Russian R-17 Elbrus (Scud-B). The Aerospace Industries Organization, a subsidiary of Iran's Ministry of Defense, supports the manufacturing process by engaging in SCUD missile restoration. Its short-range missile inventory also includes solid-fueled missiles, such as the
Tondar-69 and the
Fateh-110. Also, Iranian artillery rockets include the Samid, the
Shahin-2, the
Naze'at, and the Zelzal family (
Zelzal-1,
Zelzal-2, and
Zelzal-3). File:Fateh-110 missiles and launchers.jpg|
Fateh-110 File:Firing Zelzal 3 missile.jpg|
Zelzal-3 File:Naze'at Missile by Tasnimnews 01.jpg|
Naze'at Longer range ballistic missiles (>1,000 km) , Iran has an active interest in developing, acquiring, and deploying a broad range of ballistic missiles, as well as developing a space launch capability. In mid-July 2008, Iran launched a number of ballistic missiles during military exercises, reportedly including the medium-range Shahab-3. Iran announced other missile and space launch tests in August and November 2008. In February 2009, Iran announced it launched a satellite into orbit and "officially achieved a presence in space".
Fajr-3 MIRV The
Fajr-3 is currently Iran's most advanced
ballistic missile. It is a domestically developed
liquid fuel missile with an unknown range. The Iranian government says it has
multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles (MIRV) capabilities. Its MIRV capability may give it the ability of avoiding anti-missile
surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The missile was last launched during Holy Prophet wargames, which was the IRGC's largest naval war games ever. The Fajr-3 and the
Fajr-3 artillery rocket are different systems.
Shahab-3 The
Shahab-3 is a
medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) that was built by Iran's military. Its first model, also known as
Shahab-3A has a range of . Soon after Iran came with a new model called
Shahab-3B, which has a range of , and can carry a heavier
warhead. Making this missile was a major step in Iran's missile industry, and it opened the way to longer-range missiles.
Shahab-3D, which followed the
Shahab-3C, is Iran's latest Shahab model. A range including Russia (as far as
Moscow), Ukraine, parts of Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Egypt, Arabia, parts of India and China, as well as countries closer to Iran.
Jane's Information Group said in 2006 that Iran had six operational Shahab-3 brigades, the first of which was established in July 2003. They said that the six brigades were mainly equipped with standard variants, but with others described as enhanced Shahab-3 variants, with ranges of , respectively.
Anthony Cordesman at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies however said only in August 2007 that 'the air force of the IRGC is believed to operate Iran's three Shahab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missiles units' while noting that their actual operational status remains uncertain. to and as such is the Iranian missile with the longest range. It is believed to be an improved version of the
Shahab-3, also known as the Ghadr-101. It has a liquid-fuel first stage and a solid-fuel second stage, which allows it to have a range of 2,000 km. According to ''
Jane's Defence Weekly'', the Ashoura represents a major breakthrough in Iranian missile technology. It is the first two-stage
MRBM using solid-fueled rocket motors instead of the existing liquid-fueled technology used on the
Shahab. This would dramatically reduce the setup and deployment time for the missile and hence, shorten the amount of warning time for the enemy. Jane's noted that while the development parallels Pakistan's
Shaheen-II MRBM there is no evidence to suggest there had been any prior technology exchange or with its other known technology partners such as North Korea or China.
Sejjil (right) and
Qiam (left) missiles The new two-stage solid-fuel missile has a range of nearly , it was tested in November 2008. An improved version, the Sejjil-2, was tested in May 2009. Improvements include better navigation system, better targeting system, more payload, longer range, faster lift-off, longer storage time, quicker launch, and lower detection possibilities.
Simorgh US Director of National Intelligence
James Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2014 that Iran was expected to test "a missile system that could potentially have ICBM-class range", a possible reference to the
Simorgh satellite launch vehicle (SLV) on which Iran is working. As a consequence of Iran's nuclear deal (
JCPOA), on 20 July 2015 the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 was endorsed, replacing the
Resolution 1929, which "
called upon" Iran "
not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons". It has been argued that the language is not a legal prohibition. The U.S. ambassador to the UN
Samantha Power said that the Emad missile was inherently capable of delivering a nuclear warhead which is therefore a violation. However,
Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador disputed this interpretation: "a call is different from a ban, so legally you cannot violate a call, you can comply with a call or you can ignore the call, but you cannot violate a call". Iran's foreign minister,
Javad Zarif, responded by saying that since Iran does not possess nuclear weapons nor does it ever intends in having one, it does not design its missiles (Emad) to be capable of carrying something it does not have. Nevertheless, the testing of the Emad missile took place before the adoption of the Resolution 2231. The US, France, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, and Australia asked the UN Security Council to investigate and take appropriate action.
Khorramshahr missile The
Khorramshahr (), named after the city of
Khorramshahr in
Iran, is a
medium-range ballistic missile that was tested by Iran in January 2017. With a range between 1,000 and 2,000 km, it can carry a 1,800 kg warhead and is 13 m in length.
Hoveyzeh The Hoveyzeh Cruise Missile is an all-weather,
surface-to-surface cruise missile. The Hoveyzeh is from the Soumar family of cruise missiles. The missile was unveiled and put on display on February 2, 2019, at an exhibition of defense achievements in Tehran during commemorations of the 40th anniversary of the
1979 Iranian Revolution. The surface-to-surface cruise missile is capable of low altitude flight and has a range of , Discussing the capabilities of the missile, the Israeli military intelligence website
DEBKAfile states that there is "no military force in the world has so far found an effective means of intercepting cruise missiles before they strike, unless they are short range". The missile is essentially immune to any sort of radar and missile defense systems. The Iranian armed forces said that the missile has a range of over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). Brigadier General
Amir Ali Hajizadeh said this is an upgrade on the older Zolfaghar model, that had a range of 700 kilometers.
Raad-500 Raad-500 missile is an
Iranian SRBM/
Tactical ballistic missile which is equipped with a progressive composite engine that is dubbed as "Zohair (Persian: زهیر)". Raad-500 means "Thunder 500", and it was designed by halving the weight of the previous Iranian missile (
Fateh-110) whose body was made from metal; whereas the range of this new Iranian ballistic missile increased two hundred kilometers more than Fateh-110), and its final range is 500 kilometers.
Haj Qasem Martyr Haj Qasem () is an Iranian
ballistic missile which was unveiled in August 2020. It is named after the Iranian commander
Qasem Soleimani, who was
assassinated by the US in January 2020. Haj-Qasem's range is claimed by the Iranian military to be with a claimed warhead weight of .
Qassem Bassir The Qassem Bassir missile is an
Iranian medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) unveiled in May 2025. With a
solid-fueled,
two-stage system, it is presented as an improved variant of Iran's
Haj Qassem series, named after
Quds Force commander
Qassem Soleimani. Iranian officials state the Qassem Bassir has a range of about 1,200 km, and features enhanced guidance and countermeasure resistance. Iran claims the Qassem Bassir missile can penetrate advanced
missile defenses, and can strike selected targets (e.g.
runways,
aircraft hangars) with "pinpoint" accuracy without
GPS, though western analysts have cast doubt on these claims which are likely tinted with internal
propaganda.
Missile Magazine System Fattah On 10 November 2022, during the 11th anniversary of the death of
Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, known as the "father of Iranian missiles", Iran announced it has built an advanced
hypersonic ballistic missile calling it a "major generational leap". Brigadier General
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, IRGC-ASF commander, said the missile has a high velocity and can maneuver below and above the Earth's atmosphere. He said "it can breach all the systems of anti-missile defence" and added that he believed it would take decades before a system capable of intercepting it is developed. He said it can breach the most advanced and significant
missile defense systems in the world, and can also target them. The next day he stated that the tests have been made and that the missile will be unveiled in an appropriate time. The missile was unveiled on 6 June 2023 with the name "
Fattah". ==Anti-aircraft forces==