Khorramshahr

Iran's heaviest liquid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile family, derived from the North Korean Musudan, capable of carrying large conventional warheads or submunitions to ranges of ~2,000 km and, with a lighter payload, potentially up to 3,000 km — a key strategic deterrent and the subject of repeated combat claims in the 2025–2026 Iran–Israel wars.

Overview

The Khorramshahr is a road-mobile, liquid-propellant medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) operated solely by the IRGC Aerospace Force. Three main variants have been displayed since 2017, culminating in the Khorramshahr-4 (operationally named “Kheibar”), which incorporates a storable hypergolic engine, a manoeuvring reentry vehicle and a claimed 1,500 kg warhead. Western assessments consistently judge that a light-warhead configuration would allow the Musudan-derived airframe to reach 2,500–3,000 km, giving Iran an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) option it has so far kept in reserve. While Iran frames Khorramshahr as a conventional deterrent, its heavy payload class matches theoretical nuclear-delivery thresholds and has made the programme a central proliferation concern.

Development

The Khorramshahr programme is the clearest demonstration of North Korea–Iran missile cooperation. Iran reportedly acquired about 18 BM-25/Musudan missiles — themselves a land-based derivative of the Soviet R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile — around 2005, and subsequently modified and indigenised the design, according to CSIS and Iran Watch. The first test, on 29 January 2017, failed after roughly 950 km of flight, and a broadcast “test” later that year was assessed by U.S. officials as recycled footage of the same failure. A smaller-reentry-vehicle version, Khorramshahr-2, appeared in 2019 and was flight-tested in August 2020; the March 2019 France/Germany/UK letter to the United Nations assessed that configuration could reach ~3,000 km with a ~750 kg warhead. On 25 May 2023 Iran unveiled Khorramshahr-4/Kheibar, claiming a successful test with a 2,000 km range and 1,500 kg warhead — the first variant to publicly demonstrate a storable liquid-propellant motor and a manoeuvring reentry vehicle, according to Army Recognition.

🔒 The rest of the Khorramshahr file is for BattlePolicy Pro members. Stop here and you miss the part that actually matters: how it performs and where it falls short, its combat record, how it stacks up head-to-head against its real counterparts, the complete specifications table, and our analysts’ procurement, supplier and assessment notes. Unlock the full file with BattlePolicy Pro →