▲ Iranian flag
Iran deployed a new missile in the recent strike on a US Air Force base in Jordan that resulted in US military casualties, the US daily Wall Street Journal reported on the 21st (local time).
According to US military leadership cited by the newspaper, the Iranian attack on the 17th that claimed the lives of three US service members likely utilized Iran's most effective missiles, including the Kheibar Shekan medium-range missile system.
Introduced in 2022, the Kheibar Shekan has a range of at least approximately 1,448 kilometers and features solid fuel and a satellite guidance system.
Iran has claimed that this missile is equipped with a maneuverable re-entry warhead capable of evading air defense networks.
The weapons, including this missile system, had been stored in massive underground facilities bombed by the US and Israel in March and April of last year.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated in April regarding Iran's missile program that "launchers and missiles have been depleted and destroyed, rendering it virtually neutralized."
However, Iran is presumed to have used the subsequent ceasefire period to rebuild its forces, digging out the entrances of buried underground facilities and resuming launches from some bases.
Nicole Grajewski, an Iran expert at Sciences Po in Paris, analyzed that the missile fired at Jordan was likely launched from a base near the Tabriz region in Iran or from other bases in western Iran that have resumed operations.
Regarding this attack, she pointed out that "it means Iran has replenished its missiles or was able to dig out some of the missiles buried at the bases," adding, "It is clear that they still possess some of their most effective missiles."
Iran's latest attack shows indications that Iran still retains a substantial arsenal, contrary to the claim by US President Donald Trump that the Iranian military had been completely destroyed.
In particular, experts evaluated that this suggests Iran has not exhausted its missile inventory and may have become more adept at evading US air defense networks.
Although the US has resumed airstrikes against Iran for over a week, it has failed to suppress Iran's retaliatory attacks.
Ran Kochav, a former commander of Israel's Missile Defense Command, analyzed that radar and air defense systems were damaged by early Iranian attacks, likely allowing more missiles to penetrate.
He explained that "radars and air defense batteries in Jordan and Gulf nations were struck during the first phase of the war," noting that "radars and infrastructure remain exposed."
Tom Karako, a missile expert at the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), also commented on Iran's recent attack on Jordan, stating that it "shows how difficult it is to stop missile attacks from an enemy that has studied US operational methods for years," and that Iran "has designed its entire infrastructure to withstand a war with the US."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.