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Haj Qasem Soleimani MRBM

Iranian officials routinely unveil what they describe as technological achievements for the country's armed forces. Iran’s leadership often uses military parades to showcase its evolving arsenal and demonstrate that it has kept pace in the global arms race. In fact, Iran boasts the largest and most versatile ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East. The Iranian government invested heavily in its ballistic missiles program in recent years. Since 2015, three previously hidden underground missile complexes have come to light. Analysts believe ballistic missile storage and launch sites likely accompany each so-called missile city that is unveiled. Since Iran’s military lacks airpower and precision-strike capability, it relies on its missile development program to be able to strike.

The new "Soleimani" or "Haj Qasem" missile has a diameter of about 0.91m and and a length estimated at 11.5 meters. The RV with a diameter of 0.68 m was adopted from the "Dezful" missile and is mounted on conical adapter. In the long line of similar missiles, starting with the artillery rocket "Zelzal", followed by the "Fateh-110" variants up to "Zolfaghar" / "Dezful", the "Soleimani" missile has a new quality. Except for the "Raad-500", which is the first missile with a composute fiber filament wound motor casing, all other missiles in the series, allegedly beginning with Fateh-110 have not a composite casing. By some estimates the "Soleimani" missile did not appear to be for mass production.

Iran on 20 August 2020 unveiled a number of new homegrown missiles, including long-range ballistic and cruise missiles, as the Islamic Republic marked the National Defense Industry Day. Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said Iran had inaugurated a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 1,400 kilometers named after top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the U.S. military in January. “We are mature in the defense industry,” Hatami said at the ceremony, adding, “Iran provides more than 770 defense items, counting for up to 90% of the needs of the armed forces.”

“The country’s defense advances in the last four decades are not comparable to any similar period,” he pointed out. According to Hatami, in the last few years, Iran has achieved remarkable progress in defense sector, in particular, in the recent three years among which it can be referred to as the unveiling of the Kowsar fighter jets.

The ceremony was attended via video conference by President Hassan Rouhani. Hatami explained that Martyr Soleimani ballistic missile has a range of 1,400 kilometers and Martyr Abu-Mahdi cruise missile has a range of 1,000 kilometers. The defense industry “with 770 various product groups can meet the demands of the Iranian Armed Forces in wars,” Hatami stated. In the missile sector, Hatami said, deterrence power is a significant factor in today’s world.

On 02 January 2022, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered strikes that martyred General Soleimani, chief of the IRGC Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). In the early hours of January 8, the IRGC attacked the U.S. airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq as part of its promised “tough revenge” for the U.S. terror attack.

During the ceremony, President Rouhani praised all Iranian academics, experts and science-based firms for working hard to pave the way for the country’s defense sector to grow stronger. He also underlined the importance of cruise missiles for Iran’s defense industry. “The fact that we have increased the range from 300 to 1000 in less than two years shows the country is on the path of production and self-sufficiency in this field.”

In his address, President Hassan Rouhani noted the progress in the defence industry, saying that Iranian weapons must have high precision, sufficient destructive power and manoeuvrability. The Qasem Soleimani missile has a range of 1,400 kilometres, while the Abu Mahdi Muhandis missile hits targets at a range of 1,000 kilometres. The country has also demonstrated domestically-made drones. He stressed that the national defence industry pursues a strategy of deterrence, rather than any offensive strategy and the country does not aim to occupy any territories or harm any nation.