The Islamic Republic has unveiled a new and dangerous weapon: the Sejjil missile. It can be set up and launched with minimal delay, making it harder to hit with preemptive strikes. Iran has only a few hundred, but they are produced indigenously. Fortunately, there is a simple way to stop production for good.
The Sejjil’s menace stems from its design for speed in deployment. Unlike Iran’s older liquid-fueled Shahab missiles, which take hours to prepare, leaving them vulnerable to preemptive strikes, the Sejjil runs on solid propellant. That means it is ready to be fired from road-mobile launchers in mere minutes, vanishing before countermeasures kick in.
Iranian state media claim it also has mid-descent maneuverability that allows it to dodge interceptors—they call it the “dancing missile”—but that has not been confirmed. There is no sign of side thrusters or similar features seen on other Iranian missiles that would make maneuvering possible.
The Sejjil was deployed for the first time on March 15. During Iran’s barrages on Sunday, Sejjil missiles targeted Israeli command centers and U.S.-linked sites, piercing defenses. Iranian commanders crowed about hits near a U.S. consular residence and boasted of the missile’s rapid launch and evasion tactics. With a 1,200-mile range, it threatens American bases from the GCC countries to as far away as Turkey and even possibly Djibouti, as well as cities in Israel.
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