Reuters – July 15, 2022
Iran’s military ambitions are likely to figure high in President Joe Biden’s meetings with Israeli and Saudi leaders on a trip to the Middle East, as Tehran’s expanding missile arsenal bolsters its regional armed power.
A day after Tehran and Washington resumed indirect talks to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal in February, Iran unveiled a new domestically-made missile with a range of 1,450 km (900 miles).
State TV displayed the new surface-to-surface “Kheibar Shekan” (Kheibar buster, pictured above) missile, which refers to an ancient Jewish oasis called Kheibar in the Arabian Peninsula’s Hijaz region that was overrun by Muslim warriors in the 7th century.
The move highlighted the Islamic Republic’s determination to project military clout as world powers attempt to curb its missile programme and revive limits on its uranium enrichment, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons.
Israel sees Iran as an existential threat. But Iran says its ballistic missiles, with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,200 miles), are an important deterrent and retaliatory force against the United States, Israel and other potential regional targets. It denies seeking nuclear weapons.
In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions to force Tehran into talks on a broader agreement addressing its missiles and support for regional proxies.
Tehran has not bowed to the pressure. Here are some facts about its ballistic missile programme, which is supplemented by cruise missiles and drones.
– According to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Iran is armed with the largest number of ballistic missiles in the region.
– The Arms Control Association, a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental organization says Iran’s missile programme is largely based on North Korean and Russian designs and has benefited from Chinese assistance.
– The programme, which contains about 1,000 short-and medium range ballistic missiles, is one of the largest deployed in the Middle East, says the association. Iran is currently focused on enhancing the accuracy of the medium range systems, it says.
– The Arms Control Association says Iran’s short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles include Shahab-1, with an estimated range of 300 km, the Zolfaghar (700 km); Shahab-3 (800-1,000 km), Emad-1, a missile under development (up to 2,000 km) and Sejiil, under development (1,500-2,500 km).
CRUISE MISSILES
Iran also has cruise missiles such as Kh-55: an air-launched nuclear-capable weapon (up to 3,000 km), and the advanced anti-ship missile the Khalid Farzh, (about 300 km) capable of carrying a 1,000 kg warhead.
REGIONAL ATTACKS/PROXIES
Saudi Arabia and the United States have said they believe Iran was behind a drone and missile attack on its prized oil facilities in 2019. Tehran denied the allegation.
Iran showed its prowess in March when it attacked Erbil in northern Iraq with a dozen ballistic missiles, an unprecedented assault on the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region.
Iranian state media said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards carried out the attack against what they called Israeli “strategic centres” in Erbil, suggesting it was revenge for recent Israeli air strikes that killed Iranian military personnel in Syria.
YEMEN
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement has also shown a growing mastery of missile technology.
The group said it fired a number of ballistic missiles at Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, and had also fired several drones at Dubai, the regional business hub.
In one of the attacks, a base hosting the U.S. military in the UAE was thwarted by U.S.-built Patriot interceptors. The attack sent U.S. troops into bunkers. The United States accuses Iran of arming the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies.
LEBANON
The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has said the group has the ability within Lebanon to convert thousands of rockets into precision missiles and to produce drones.
In February, Hassan Nsrallah said Hezbollah 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 over the last 11 years, according to Israeli and Western intelligence officials.
It has also moved some of its production capacity to underground compounds in Syria, where Assad’s military and other pro-Tehran forces have learned to build their own missiles, those same sources say.
Israeli air strikes have repeatedly attacked both suspected weapons transfers and sites where those factories and storage facilities are located.
Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington,Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by William Maclean
YES israel you will not be out of
danger even not in ukraine !
better go to the moon !
Quote: “…which refers to an ancient Jewish oasis called Kheibar…”
It was not an oasis! In fact the word (خیبر) mainly refers to the Jewish castles there and in particular the main Castle which was famous for being impregnable.
Iran’s Supreme-Leaders had personally asked for great precision of the missiles. In fact IRGC’s aerospace commander General Hajizade, said that he was speaking to Khamenai about advances in range and warheads when he replied from now on only work on the accuracy and precision!
Many think it is a joke but it is nothing but the truth that due to religious limitations, to avoid killing innocent lives and harm natural environment, using weapons of mass-destruction such as: Nuclear, Chemical, Biological are strictly forbidden… Iranians have not started any conflict in recent history, indeed another limitation is to initiate aggression however Iran’s hand is very open in responding to an aggression.
To compensate Iranian missiles and drones have great accuracy, and they don’t use GPS, in fact the accuracy is mainly due to the design of the guided finned warhead without the need for satellite guidance or even radar, not even passive radars, it is said to be optical combined with other sensors and an onboard flight computer but exact details are not confirmed. The warhead usually has enough ordnance just to take out the target.
Iran’s missile attack on that Zionist Erbil compound that had an underground base showed the confidence, IRGC has in its missile, had one Iraqi nose bled due to the missile explosions, the entire MSM would have unleashed! The shock wave roughed up the anti-Iran TV station nearby but they were not allowed to send even one camera team to report from the aftermath.
And then there is news that Iran is selling “hundreds” of its Photoshoped useless drones to Russia!
Venezuela has invited Iran, Russia and China and others for war-games in US backyard, so much for the Monroe doctrine!
Now if you ask IRGC, they would tell you both China and Russia have been emboldened by Iran. But Iranians are not for bragging, “Iran regularly makes false claims about its military achievements!”
People ought to know that since the USA and Iran have signed the NNPT that the USA is required by treaty to assist Iran’s nuclear development.
But the USA is assisting Israel to destroy it.
So Iran has every right to withdraw from the treaty and pursue nuclear weapons.
And if I was in Iran leadership I would push the nation to get nukes as fast as possible – especially after watching Iraq get pounded by ZOG bombs.
And I would put hundreds of nukes on missiles and aim them at Tel Aviv and every Israeli military target.
That is the only way Iran will survive the JEWZOG monster.
Iran showed the Zionists what an attack on Dimona nuclear facility and power plant would look like, with drones and sure-strike ballistic missiles. Not that this would ever be needed!
https://youtu.be/VcZEJ40Gt9M?t=65
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHc72QEoyAY
Iran needs nuclear energy particularly the clean and more stable TRISO based mini-nuclear reactors of the future that can power ships and submarines. But Nuclear bombs are the weapons that everyone keeps them sheathed so to say! Iran has achieved deterrence mainly with sure-strike missiles and drone.
Almost every target of value in Israel has been discovered. They have no geographical depth to withstand any serious conflict longer than a week. Hacker groups such as “Open Hands” and “Moses Staff” have been a major pain for Israel.
https://moses-staff.se/activities/
https://thecradle.co/Article/news/8158