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IRGC denies developing ICBM
Jane's Defence Weekly
14 October 2013
There are indications that Iran has continued its missile
development programme after the apparent completion of the Sejil programme. Source: PA Photos
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps (IRGC) has released a statement refuting media reports that cited the commander of its
aerospace division as saying his forces have missiles with a range
of 12,000 km.
The 12 October statement said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh actually said: "At present, the range of our long-range missiles is 2,000 km."
He added that there was no point committing resources to the development of a longer-range missile because "our enemies are within this range".
Iranian officials say that its Shahab-3 liquid-fuel and Sejil
(also spelt Sejjil or Sajil) solid-fuel ballistic missiles have a range of 2,000 km that can be used to
target Israel.
Nevertheless, there have been signs that Iran is working on a
missile that is capable of targeting the United States. The
unclassified version of the annual report on Iranian military power that the US Department of Defense submitted to Congress in 2012 noted that "Iran may be technically capable of flight-testing an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] by 2015".
Indeed, there have been signs that Iran has continued to work
on new missiles after the Sejil tests in November 2008 and May 2009.
For example, satellite imagery previously published by IHS
Jane's showed a surge of activity at the Bid Ganeh missile development facility from 2009 until it was largely destroyed by
an explosion on 12 November 2011.
More recently, IHS Jane's revealed in August that Iran has invested significant resources into building a new facility near the city of Shahrud that could be
used to test longer-range, solid- fuel missiles.
Jane's Defence Weekly
14 October 2013
There are indications that Iran has continued its missile
development programme after the apparent completion of the Sejil programme. Source: PA Photos
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps (IRGC) has released a statement refuting media reports that cited the commander of its
aerospace division as saying his forces have missiles with a range
of 12,000 km.
The 12 October statement said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh actually said: "At present, the range of our long-range missiles is 2,000 km."
He added that there was no point committing resources to the development of a longer-range missile because "our enemies are within this range".
Iranian officials say that its Shahab-3 liquid-fuel and Sejil
(also spelt Sejjil or Sajil) solid-fuel ballistic missiles have a range of 2,000 km that can be used to
target Israel.
Nevertheless, there have been signs that Iran is working on a
missile that is capable of targeting the United States. The
unclassified version of the annual report on Iranian military power that the US Department of Defense submitted to Congress in 2012 noted that "Iran may be technically capable of flight-testing an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] by 2015".
Indeed, there have been signs that Iran has continued to work
on new missiles after the Sejil tests in November 2008 and May 2009.
For example, satellite imagery previously published by IHS
Jane's showed a surge of activity at the Bid Ganeh missile development facility from 2009 until it was largely destroyed by
an explosion on 12 November 2011.
More recently, IHS Jane's revealed in August that Iran has invested significant resources into building a new facility near the city of Shahrud that could be
used to test longer-range, solid- fuel missiles.
