Iran’s ‘Khaybar Shekan’: The missile used by Tehran to attack in Syria

Iran showcased its Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile on Wednesday in an event in Tehran near the Azadi Sports Complex, Iranian pro-government media reported.

The missile is now the pride of Tehran because it was used to target an area in northwestern Syria. The Iranian regime claimed to be targeting “Takfiri” groups, a word they use for ISIS and other extremists. Iranian media also claimed in mid-January, after the missile was used, that it was a “message” to Israel.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday showed the missile on display. Four of these large ballistic missiles had been used in January and were fired from southern Iran, Tasnim reported.

A show of strength 

This is an important point for the Iranian regime. It marks the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “longest-range missile operation,” the report said.

Iran could have fired the missiles from northern Iran, but it intentionally fired them from the south to see if they could reach their intended 1,300-km. range.

This is important for Iran’s missile program and the IRGC in general. Tehran wants to show that its missile arsenal is improving. This is a message to Israel, the US, and other countries in the region.

Iran says it has now produced a “third generation” of these long-range missiles for the IRGC. The new missile “has solid fuel, and in the landing phase, it has maneuverability to pass through the missile shield, and its optimal design has reduced its weight by one-third compared to similar samples, and its preparation and firing time has been reduced by one-sixth,” Tasnim reported.

Iran estimates that the latest generation of missiles can reach 1,450 km. It remains to be seen if the Iranians can achieve this range with the missile after the attack in Syria.

Seth Frantzman is the author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machine, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future (Bombardier 2021) and an adjunct fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.