Iran uses cheap, precise missiles to attack US assets throughout the Middle East | The Jerusalem Post
Iran has been using Kheibar Shekan missiles, cheap, mobile and accurate missiles that have a range of at least 1,400 kilometers in its recent attacks on US assets across the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying on Saturday.
The medium-range, solid-fuel Kheibar Shekan missiles differ from older Iranian missiles in that they require fueling before launch, a lengthy process that the Kheibar Shekans can avoid if they are kept fueled and able to be quickly loaded onto trucks or other vehicles for launch, making it easier to evade US and Israeli warplanes attempting to destroy Iranian missile launch sites, military experts told the WSJ.
While the United States and its allies have shot down most of the Kheibar Shekans during the war, one of the US officials told the WSJ that some managed to survive. According to officials, Iran has been using different flight paths, maneuvers and speeds to confuse US defenses.
Kheibar Shekans are also more difficult to destroy than other missiles, as they have greater maneuverability. Some variants have small engines in the nose section that carry the explosive warhead and detach during the final phase of flight. This makes it capable of adjusting direction as it approaches its target at about 10,000 kilometers per hour, the WSJ wrote.
Iran is combining Kheibar Shekan launches with those of high-speed attack drones and less sophisticated missiles, targeting, among other assets, radars supporting air defenses across the region and housing areas for US troops at bases across the Middle East, US officials told the WSJ.
Anti-missile batteries fire interception missiles against incoming ballistic missiles launched from Iran, as seen over Tel Aviv, during the war with Iran and the current missile launch towards Israel, March 15, 2026; illustrative. (Credit: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90) Iran adjusts to previous failed attacks, experts say
“I think what it tells us is that Iran is paying attention, it’s learning, and it’s looking for ways to attack us,” the WSJ quoted Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who headed US Central Command.
“This is a military that has a well-developed drone capability; it has had a missile and rocket program for a long period of time. They have a lot of experience in this area,” he added.
While Iran was believed to have 2,500 Keibar Shekan and other medium-range missiles before the war began, according to US and Israeli estimates, it may be assembling more from components in underground bases. However, the production facilities where the missile engines were built have been destroyed, Fabian Hinz, an independent missile expert, told the WSJ.
According to Hinz, Iran likely studied previous launches to maximize its chances of its missiles hitting their targets.
‘Each use in combat gives you some type of information’
Iran “has seen what types of maneuvers are most effective in overcoming missile defense. Each combat use provides some type of information, so it is very useful to the Iranians,” Hinz told the WSJ.
Iran has not disclosed the cost of a Khebar Shekan, but analysts told the WSJ that they are much cheaper than the US and Israeli interceptors used to stop them, costing between $2 million and $15 million, depending on the system, according to the WSJ.
Israel said it fired most of the Kheibar Shekans that Iran fired at it, which it claimed targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, as well as another missile attack last month.
