Toufan

The Houthi designation for an Iranian Ghadr-derived, liquid-propellant medium-range ballistic missile with sufficient claimed range to reach Israel from Yemen.

Overview

Toufan, meaning "Typhoon" and also transliterated Tufan, Toofan or Toophan, is the designation used by Yemen's Houthi movement, or Ansarullah, for a medium-range ballistic missile first displayed in Sanaa in September 2023. Although the Houthis present Toufan as a domestically produced weapon, independent assessments identify it as an Iranian Ghadr, itself a stretched derivative of the Shahab-3. The International Institute for Strategic Studies describes Toufan as a rebranded Ghadr, while a US Defense Intelligence Agency comparison reproduced by Iran Watch finds its configuration consistent with the Iranian Shahab-3 family.

Published estimates place its range between 1,350 and 1,950 km, depending on the Ghadr variant used for comparison. That envelope made Toufan the first publicly displayed Houthi missile with the nominal reach to cover all of Israel from north-western Yemen. Its actual operational role is less certain: no Houthi stockpile or launcher count is public, and later analyses dispute whether any missile positively identified as Toufan has been launched in combat.

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