TEHRAN – Iran launched missiles and explosive drones at Israel on April 13 in retaliation for a strike on its embassy in Syrian, drawing on an array of weapons that has long worried the West.

Ballistic missiles are an important part of the arsenal at Tehran’s disposal. According to the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Iran is armed with the largest number of ballistic missiles in the region.

Types of missiles

The semi-official Iranian news outlet ISNA published a graphic this week showing nine Iranian missiles it said could reach Israel.

These included the Sejil, capable of flying at more than 17,000km per hour and with a range of 2,500 km, the Kheibar with a range of 2,000km, and the Haj Qasem, which has a range of 1,400km and is named after Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad four years ago, ISNA reported.

Iran, a major producer of drones, said in August that it had built an advanced homemade drone named Mohajer-10, with an operational range of 2,000km and capable of flying for up to 24 hours with a payload of up to 300kg.

Iran says its ballistic missiles are an important deterrent and retaliatory force against the United States, Israel and other potential regional targets. It denies seeking nuclear weapons.

Last June, Iran presented what officials described as its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, the official IRNA news agency reported. Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory, which makes them difficult to intercept.

Despite US and European opposition, the Islamic Republic has said it will further develop its defensive missile programme.

The Arms Control Association, a Washington-based non-governmental organisation, says Iran’s missile programme is largely based on North Korean and Russian designs and has benefited from Chinese assistance.

The association says Iran’s short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles include Shahab-1, with an estimated range of 300km; the Zolfaghar, with 700km; Shahab-3, with 800 to 1,000km; Emad-1, a missile under development with up to 2,000km; and Sejil, under development, with 1,500 to 2,500km.

Iran also has cruise missiles such as Kh-55, an air-launched nuclear-capable weapon with a range of up to 3,000km, and the advanced anti-ship missile Khalid Farzh, with about 300km, capable of carrying a 1,000kg warhead.

Regional attacks

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards drew on the missiles in January when they said they attacked the spy headquarters of Israel in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and that they fired at ISIS militants in Syria. Iran also announced firing missiles at two bases of a Baluchi militant group in neighbouring Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have said they believe Iran was behind a drone and missile attack on Saudi Arabia’s prized oil facilities in 2019. Tehran denied the allegation.

In 2020, Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq, including the al-Asad air base, in retaliation for a US drone strike on Iranian commander Soleimani, whose killing raised fears of a wider Middle East conflict.

Backing for Yemen’s Houthis

The US accuses Iran of arming the Houthis of Yemen, who have been firing on Red Sea shipping and Israel itself during the Gaza war, in a campaign they say is aimed at supporting the Palestinians. Tehran denies arming the Houthis.

In 2022, the Houthi militants said they fired a number of ballistic missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates. This included a missile attack targeting a base hosting the US military in the UAE, which was thwarted by US-built Patriot interceptor missiles.

Support for Hezbollah

The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah has said the group has the ability within Lebanon to convert thousands of rockets into precision missiles and to produce drones.

In 2023, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group was able to transform standard rockets into precision missiles with the cooperation of “experts from the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Syria

Iran has transferred indigenous precision-guided missiles to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad’s fight against insurgents, according to Israeli and Western intelligence officials.

It has also moved some of its production capacity to underground compounds in Syria, where Mr Assad’s military and other pro-Tehran forces have learned to build their own missiles, those same sources say. REUTERS