On March 17, 2026, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) made a significant move by deploying the “Haj Qasem” ballistic missile for the first time during the ongoing war with the United States and Israel. The IRGC launched this advanced weapon as part of the 59th wave of Operation True Promise 4, targeting Israeli positions in Beit Shemesh, Tel Aviv, and occupied Jerusalem, while simultaneously striking US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, and Erbil in Iraq.
The Haj Qasem missile was originally unveiled in August 2020 and named after IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States in January 2020. It is a road-mobile, solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile with a reported range of about 1,400 kilometers, designed to strike high-value targets.
The missile operates in two stages; the first provides main acceleration to place the warhead on its trajectory, while the second gives correction and additional thrust, improving both accuracy and range. The weapon weighs an estimated 7 to 8 tons, with the bulk of that weight taken up by fuel.
The operation also included suicide drones alongside other ballistic missiles such as the Ghadr, Emad, and Fattah models. The deployment of the Haj Qasem marked a clear escalation in Iran’s offensive capability in the war, serving as both a military statement and a symbolic tribute to the slain general after whom it was named.
