In November 2007, Iranian Defence Minister
Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced Iran had built a new missile with a range of 2,000 km, the Ashoura missile. Najar said: ''"The Islamic Republic of Iran has never aimed to launch an attack on any country. It will never do so. But if someone wants to invade Iran, they will face a crushing response by the armed forces."'' He did not say how the missile differed from the Shahab-3, which has a range of 2100 km. Also called
Sejjil-2.
He told the gathering
Basij militia during the manoeuvres they were holding that same week that: ''"The construction of the Ashoura missile, with the range of 2,000 km, is among the accomplishments of the Defence Ministry."''
According to ''
Jane's Defence Weekly'', the Ashoura represents a major breakthrough in Iranian missile technology. It is the first two-stage
MRBM using solid-fueled rocket motors instead of the existing liquid-fueled technology used on the
Shahab. This would dramatically reduce the setup and deployment time for the missile and hence, shorten the amount of warning time for the enemy and increase accuracy. Jane's noted that while the development parallels Pakistan's
Shaheen-II MRBM there is no evidence to suggest there had been any prior technology exchange or with its other known technology partners such as
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
, India or China.
The Ashoura was developed by the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group (SBIG) under the Sanam Industrial Group (Department 140) which is part of the
Defense Industries Organization (DIO) of Iran.
The missile is named after the
Day of Ashura, an important religious commemoration in
Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
.
Jane's reported rumors that the Ashoura missile was renamed the
Sejjil missile, and that the two are the same thing.
References
{{Iran Missiles
Medium-range ballistic missiles of Iran
Theatre ballistic missiles
Military equipment introduced in the 2000s