On the morning of June 19, 2025, the Iranians launched another barrage of ballistic missiles toward civilian population centers in Israel. At least one of the missiles had a warhead that effectively split into several smaller warheads—individual bombs that flew and dispersed within a radius of up to 8 kilometers. The dispersion of the small bombs occurred during the missile’s flight, several kilometers above the target. These consisted of dozens of small bombs, each weighing a few kilograms.
According to our assessment, the missile was a Khorramshahr ballistic missile.
Khorramshahr – A liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile. The Khorramshahr is based on the North Korean HS10/BM-25 missile (itself based on a Russian source), which Iran purchased from North Korea.
The missile, which was introduced in 2017, has a stated range of 2,000 km and the ability to carry a warhead with a total weight of 1,500-1,800 kg. Statements by senior Iranian officials indicate that there is a possibility that each missile can carry several warheads. However, apparently this is not MiRV, that can hit different and distant targets, but rather a type of warhead containing submunitions that help increase the radius of destruction.
Over the years, Iran has developed several generations of missiles that have shown various improvements. In 2019, Iran tested another version of the Khorramshahr, which showed a smaller,
lighter re-entry vehicle with some maneuverability and an estimated range of 3,000 km. In 2020, Iran claimed that a more advanced version of the missile successfully hit a target during a test.
The latest of these developments is the Khorramshahr 4, which was introduced in 2023. This version, also called Khaybar, has a longer fuselage, uses composite materials, which reduced the missile’s weight, and uses a new and more efficient liquid propellant. Additionally, Iran claims that the missile possesses exo-atmospheric
