Iran’s Ballistic Missile Programs: Background And Context – Analysis

CRS. Daniel M. Gettinger and Clayton Thomas

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Iran’s ballistic missile programs have long been subjects of congressional attention and legislative action in view of concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and its support for terrorist groups. International agreements and diplomatic discussions over Iran’s nuclear program have sometimes addressed Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.

Congress has authorized extensive sanctions on Iran’s missile programs and mandated executive branch reporting on Iran’s missile capabilities. In airstrikes beginning on June 13, 2025, Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Iran subsequently launched missile strikes on Israel.

Iran’s Missile Capabilities

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, in a March 2025 congressionally mandated annual threat assessment, stated, “Iran continues to bolster the lethality and precision of its domestically produced missile and [unmanned aerial vehicle] systems, and it has the largest stockpiles of these systems in the region.”

The U.S. National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), in a 2020 report, catalogued at least 14 Iranian ballistic missile variants. Iran’s inventory of ballistic missiles has comprised both solid-fueled missiles, which offer advantages in maintenance and longevity, and liquid-fueled missiles that have greater thrust and power than solid propellants.

Short-Range Ballistic Missiles

Iran’s inventory of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs)—missiles with a range of under 1,000 kilometers (621 miles)—has included both liquid- and solid-fueled missiles. According to a 2019 report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Iran’s liquid-fueled Shahab-1, Shahab-2, and Qiam-1 SRBMs are based on technology from Soviet-era Scud missiles.

In the early 2000s, Iran began testing the first iteration of the Fateh family of SRBMs, the Fateh-110. The Fateh-110 and its successor, the Fateh-313, are solid-fueled SRBMs with estimated ranges of up to 300 and 500 kilometers, respectively, according to the 2020 NASIC report. Iran has displayed several variants of the Fateh series of missiles that may feature improved range and guidance systems, including the Zolfaghar and the Khalij Fars, an anti-ship ballistic missile.