Iran launches new barrage of missiles

Tehran: Iran has launched a powerful retaliatory missile strike targeting a major US naval base in Bahrain, dramatically escalating tensions across the Middle East. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the launch of 27th wave of attacks under "Operation True Promise 4," targeting American and Israeli positions, in response to the new phase of "unprovoked US-Israeli aggression towards the Islamic Republic."

Iranian military officials say the attack was carried out by the IRGC using precision solid-fuel missiles in response to what Tehran calls American aggression against a desalination facility on Qeshm Island. They claim Iranian strikes had already damaged enemy radar and surveillance systems, allowing their forces to hit strategic targets with greater accuracy in the latest wave of attacks.

According to the IRGC, the latest strikes were carried out using newly developed solid-fuel missile technology deployed by its Aerospace Division. "In this strategic and multidimensional operation, Zionist military targets in (the occupied city of) Haifa were struck by the IRGC's Aerospace Division's new solid-fuel Kheibar-Shekan missiles, which possess terminal guidance capability up to the point of impact," the official dispatch stated.

Unlike liquid-fuel missiles that must be filled with fuel shortly before launch, solid-fuel missiles contain fuel stored inside the rocket itself, allowing them to be fired quickly with minimal preparation. The fuel is typically a mixture of metallic powders such as aluminium combined with an oxidiser like ammonium perchlorate, bound together with a rubber-like material and packed inside a metal casing.

According to Iranian media, the missile has a range of around 1,450 kilometres, enabling it to reach Israel from western Iran. It is equipped with satellite guidance and a manoeuvrable warhead, designed to improve accuracy.

At the same time, the IRGC Navy reportedly engaged facilities linked to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, indicating that the conflict is spreading across multiple fronts. The IRGC said Operation True Promise 4 launched after foreign strikes last week, has already involved hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones targeting strategic locations including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem (al-Quds) and the technology hub of Be’er Sheva.

Missile attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz have sharply reduced tanker traffic, sending oil prices higher and unsettling financial markets. Shipping giants are suspending routes as security risks grow.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s strikes on US targets in the Middle East were a “legal act of self-defence”, describing them as a response to a war, he said, was imposed by the United States and Israel.