Foreign Affairs

Tension in the Middle East

Tehran presents its new ballistic missile: it has a range of 2,000 kilometers

The Kheibar, named after a Jewish fortress conquered by Muslims in the seventh century, would be able to hit Israel

25/05/2023

Associated Press

Iran presented the fourth generation of its Khorramshahr ballistic missile called Kheibar.

According to data reported by the official IRNA news agency, the new liquid-fuel missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers, a 1,500-kilogram warhead and exceeds the previous version of the Khorramshahr, which until now was the one with the longest range supplied by the armed forces in Tehran.

The new missile would be able to reach Israel.

The Kheibar was shown to the press during an event in Tehran attended by Defense Minister General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.

The missile was installed on a launcher mounted on a truck and next to it was placed a miniature version of the Dome of the Rock, the shrine at the center of the al-Aqsa Mosque complex, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a place considered sacred by Jews and Muslims and at the center of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Tehran has also released undated footage allegedly showing a successful launch of the missile.

However, the minister maintains that the programme is purely defensive and serves as a deterrent.

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Ashtiani said the new weapon can be prepared for launch in a short time and that it has been tested to "give support to our allies and countries that are engaged in fighting against the dominant system."

Quoted by IRNA, the minister addressed "a message to the enemies of Iran" saying that "we will defend our country and its conquests". While "the message to our friends is that we want to defend regional stability," Ashtiani added.

The Khorramshahr ballistic missile series is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq war in the eighties.

Kheibar derives instead from a Jewish fortress conquered by Muslims in the seventh century and which is now located in present-day Saudi Arabia.

The missile was designed on the model of North Korea's Musudan ballistic missile.