Iran is adapting and enhancing the capabilities of its Kheibar Shekan ballistic missile to evade air defenses better, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Kheibar Shekan, or Kheibar-buster, is named after a Jewish castle overrun by Muslim warriors in the early days of Islam.
Iran is increasingly relying on the platform in its regional attacks, the report says. It has a range of 1,450 kilometers (900 miles), making it fully capable of reaching Gulf nations and Israel.
A domestically-built missile “Khaibar-buster,” and banners showing portraits of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and the late armed forces commanders, who were killed in Israeli strike in June, are displayed in a military exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, and 12-day war with Israel in June, at Baharestan Square, in Tehran, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The report says Iranian forces have been using the missile in recent attacks on US assets in the region in the past weeks, as fighting restarted, often varying its trajectory, speed, and maneuvering to complicate interception efforts. Some missile models can perform last-minute maneuvers in the final stage of flight, helping them avoid interceptors.
A US official speaking to the paper says most Kheibar Shekan missiles launched at the region have been successfully shot down, but some have been able to punch through defenses using such advanced methods, indicating the Iranians are studying interceptions and learning how to better circumvent them.
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