Sejjil

Iran's first solid-propellant medium-range ballistic missile — a road-mobile, two-stage MRBM with a ~2,000 km range and a short-notice launch capability that gives the IRGC a survivable strategic strike option.

Overview

The Sejjil (also romanised Sejil, Sajjil, Sajil; Persian: سجیل, “brimstone”) is Iran's first indigenously developed two-stage, solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM). Road-mobile on a tractor-trailer transporter-erector-launcher (TEL), it is designed to strike high-value targets at distances of roughly 2,000 km — placing Israel and US regional bases within reach. Operated exclusively by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, the Sejjil entered service around 2012 and was combat-fired for the first time during the 2025 Twelve-Day War, and again in the 2026 US–Israel–Iran war. Its solid-propellant architecture allows it to be stored fully fuelled and launched on short notice, a key survivability advantage over Iran's liquid-fuel Shahab-series missiles.

Development

Development of a large solid-propellant ballistic missile began at Iran's Ministry of Defence Aerospace Industries Organisation (AIO) in the late 1990s, building on solid-fuel technology from the Zelzal short-range rocket programme. According to CSIS, China assisted with solid-propellant production techniques. The first flight-test, on 13 November 2008, covered approximately 800 km. Iran called the follow-on test in May 2009 the “Sejjil-2”; a Wikipedia chronology records six tests through 2011, the sixth reaching nearly 1,900 km into the Indian Ocean. The missile then went largely dormant for a decade, resurfacing in the January 2021 Great Prophet 15 exercise with upgraded guidance: a ruggedised strap-down inertial package and jet vanes derived from the Emad re-entry vehicle, as documented by CSIS.

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