Iran has long been considered one of the largest missile powers in the Middle East, gradually building up a large and diverse arsenal of ballistic weapons and other advanced military systems. According to a report published in 2022 by the United States Central Command, Tehran is believed to possess more than 3,000 ballistic missiles of various types, making it one of the countries with the largest missile capacity in the region.

This arsenal includes a wide range of missiles with different ranges. Among the most popular are short-range missiles, such as the Fateh missile family and the Zolfaghar missile, which are designed primarily to hit military targets relatively close to Iran’s borders. These missiles are characterized by the ability to be launched in multiple bursts within a short time, a tactic that aims to reduce the opponent’s reaction time and overload air defense systems.

An example of the use of this tactic was seen in 2020, after the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, when Iran launched a series of missiles at US military bases in Iraq. This action was considered a direct demonstration of the country’s ability to carry out coordinated and rapid strikes.

At another level are medium-range missiles, which constitute the mainstay of Iran’s strategic capabilities. Models such as the Shahab-3 missile, Khorramshahr missile and Sejjil missile can reach targets up to about 2,000 kilometers away. This limit, according to Iranian authorities, is the maximum that Tehran intends to maintain for the time being. However, many Western analysts and experts believe that the technology developed so far could enable Iran to further extend this range in the future. READ MORE BELOW