Overview
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has deployed Kheibar Shekan medium‑range ballistic missiles against US military targets this week, with Iranian footage and state media showing strikes on facilities in Jordan.
- The Kheibar Shekan is a solid‑fuel, medium‑range missile unveiled in 2022 with an estimated range of about 1,450 km and a warhead capacity of roughly 449–590 kg.
- Solid fuel lets the missile be launched within minutes because it does not need fueling before firing, making launches harder to detect and harder for adversaries to pre‑empt.
- Claims that the missile uses a manoeuvrable re‑entry warhead to evade missile defenses are reported by a single source and have not been broadly verified across independent outlets.
- The recent strikes follow US attacks on Larak Island on August 31 and have driven a cycle of reciprocal strikes that raise risks to regional bases, nearby populations and oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.