A look at Iran's missile arsenal and capabilities?

Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel's campaign against Tehran's Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, drawing on an array of weapons that has long worried the West. The attack came five months after a strike in April that was the first ever direct Iranian strike on Israel. 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. Here are some details:

The semi-official Iranian news outlet Isna published a graphic in April 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 2,500km; the Kheibar with a range of 2,000km; and the Haj Qasem, which has a range of 1,400km, Isna said.

The Arms Control Association, a Washington-based non-governmental organisation, says Iran's ballistic missiles include Shahab-1, with an estimated range of 300km; the Zolfaghar, with 700km; Shahab-3, with 800-1,000km; Emad-1, a missile under development with a range up to 2,000km; and Sejil, under development, with 1,500-2,500km.

Fabian Hinz, a Berlin-based expert on Iran’s missile arsenal with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that based on the locations of videos of launches posted on social media and the ranges to Israel, he assessed that Iran fired a combination of solid- and liquid-fuelled missiles.

The former category of missile, which is more advanced, is fired from angled mobile launchers and the latter from vertical launchers, he said.

He said three solid-propellent missiles fired on Tuesday could be the Haj Qasem, Kheibar Shekan and Fattah 1. Liquid propellant missiles reported as being launched from Isfahan might potentially be the Emad, Badr and Khorramshahr, he said.

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

According to a 2023 report by Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Senior Fellow at the US-based Foundation for Defence of Democracies, Iran continues to develop underground missile depots complete with transport and firing systems, and subterranean missile production and storage centres. In June 2020, Iran fired its first ever ballistic missile from underground, it said.

"Years of reverse-engineering missiles and producing various missile classes have also taught Iran about stretching airframes and building them with lighter composite materials to increase missile range," the report said.

In June 2023, 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.

The Arms Control Association says Iran's missile programme is largely based on North Korean and Russian designs and has benefited from Chinese assistance.

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

REGIONAL ATTACKS

Iran's Revolutionary Guards used missiles in January 2024 when they said they attacked the spy headquarters of Israel in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and said they fired at Daesh militants in Syria. Iran also announced firing missiles at two bases of a Baluchi militant group in neighbouring Pakistan.

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