Iranian missiles and drones have continued to strike crucial energy facilities and other targets in Gulf countries and the wider Middle East nearly three weeks into the war.

Neutralising Iran's missile and drone capabilities is a crucial war aim for both the U.S. and Israel, which launched the conflict on February 28, but that may prove very difficult.

Here's why:

WHAT ARE BALLISTIC MISSILES?

A ballistic missile is a rocket-propelled weapon that is guided during its ascent but follows a free-fall trajectory for most of its flight. It delivers warheads - containing either conventional explosives or potentially biological, chemical or nuclear munitions - over varying distances.

Western powers regard Iran's ballistic missile arsenal both as a conventional military threat to Middle East stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons, should Tehran develop them. Iran denies any intent to build atomic bombs.

IRANIAN MISSILE TYPES AND RANGES

Iran has the largest stockpile of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They have a self-imposed range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles), which Iranian officials have said was enough to protect the country as they can reach Israel.

Many of Iran's missile sites are in and around Tehran. There are at least five known underground "missile cities" in various provinces, including Kermanshah and Semnan, as well as near the Gulf region.

The arsenal encompasses multiple long-range missiles that can reach Israel, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It says these include the Sejil, with a 2,000-km range; Emad, 1,700 km; Ghadr, 2,000 km; Shahab-3, 1,300 km; Khorramshahr, 2,000 km; and Hoveyzeh 1,350 km.

The semi-official Iranian news outlet ISNA published a graphic in April 2025 showing nine Iranian missiles it said could reach Israel, including the Sejil, which ISNA said was capable of flying at more than 17,000 km (10,500 miles) per hour and had a range of 2,500 km; the Kheibar, with a range of 2,000 km; and the Haj Qasem, 1,400 km.

Washington-based think tank, the Arms Control Association says Iran's ballistic arsenal included the Shahab-1, with an estimated range of 300 km; the Zolfaghar, 700 km; Shahab-3, 800-1,000 km; Emad-1, under development, 2,000 km; and a Sejil model under development, 1,500-2,500 km.

WHEN DID IRAN LAST USE ITS MISSILES?

During the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, Tehran fired ballistic missiles into Israel, killing dozens of people and destroying buildings.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and AEI Critical Threats Project said Israel "likely destroyed around a third of the Iranian missile launchers" during the conflict. Iranian officials have said Tehran has recovered from the damage incurred during the war.

Iran also responded to U.S. participation in Israel's air war by firing missiles at the U.S. Al Udeid air base in Qatar. Tehran gave advance warning and no one was hurt. Washington announced a ceasefire hours later.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards used missiles in January 2024 when they said they had attacked Israel's spy headquarters in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and that they had also fired at Islamic State militants in Syria.

Tehran also announced missile strikes targeting two bases of a Baloch militant group in Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have said they believe Iran was behind a drone and missile attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities in 2019. Tehran denied this.

In 2020, Iran launched missiles at U.S.-led forces in Iraq in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani of the Revolutionary Guards.

MISSILE STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT

Iran says its ballistic missiles provide a deterrent and retaliatory force against the United States, Israel and other potential regional targets.

According to a 2023 report by Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Iran continues to develop underground missile depots complete with transport and firing systems, as well as production and storage centres. In 2020, Iran fired a ballistic missile from underground for the first time, it said.

"Years of reverse-engineering missiles and producing various missile classes have also taught Iran about stretching airframes and building them with lighter composite materials to increase missile range," the report said.

In June 2023, Iran presented what officials described as its first domestically made hypersonic ballistic missile, the official IRNA news agency reported. Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound on a complex trajectory, making them difficult to intercept.

The Arms Control Association says Iran's missile programme is largely based on North Korean and Russian designs and has benefited from Chinese assistance.

Iran also has cruise missiles such as the Kh-55, an air-launched nuclear-capable weapon with a range up to 3,000 km.

HOW MUCH OF IRAN'S ARSENAL REMAINS?

How much of this arms cache remains could be a key factor in determining the course of the war.

Last week U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran's ballistic missile capacity was functionally destroyed. U.S. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday Iran still retained some missile capabilities.

"They came into this fight with a lot of weapons," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said on Thursday that Iran's missile and drone capability was "massively degraded" with hundreds of launchers destroyed. Israel was also hitting missile and drone factories, he said.

Iran has denied it is running out of projectiles, with its Revolutionary Guards saying on Friday that its stockpile of missiles had not been depleted and that its production of the armaments continued.

Still, maintaining missile supplies could be difficult for Iran, with little prospect of rearming from major powers Russia or China, and after having supplied some to the allied Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, and using some during a brief war last year.

Strikes on Iran's launchers may also reduce its ability to deploy missiles.

Drones may prove easier for Iran to continue using for longer, and are produced at dual-use plants and other facilities can be retooled to ramp up production, analysts say.

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE GROUND?

The pace of Iranian attacks has slowed, Israel and Gulf states have said.

However, missile and drone strikes are continuing, including strikes that damaged energy facilities in Qatar and Kuwait on Thursday, and missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea oil terminal that were downed.

Even less-intensive missile and drone fire poses a major risk, both to Gulf states and to global logistics chains and energy supplies.

Posted by: Alma Angeles/NET25 News