New Video Seemingly Confirms Deployment Of Iranian Short-Range Ballistic Missiles Among Iran's Iraqi Non-State Allies
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A newly released video seemingly offers documentary evidence of Iranian ballistic missiles—of the (very) short-range variety—in the hands of Iran's Iraqi non-state allies. The timing of this deliberate disclosure amid the ongoing crisis between Iran and the United States is unlikely to be a coincidence. While American military forces are reported to have recently departed from all facilities in the parts of Iraq controlled by the federal government in Baghdad, American forces remain in the parts of Iraq controlled by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.
It is important to note that documentary evidence already exists for Iran's Iraqi non-state allies being in the possession of Iranian-supplied long-range cruise missiles and propeller-driven fixed-wing strike drones. Both of these types of strike munitions—but not ballistic missiles—were launched against Israel over the course of 2024.
While Iran’s Iraqi non-state allies have previously claimed to operate a different Iranian short-range ballistic missile design (the above image to the right) under the designation al-Quds 1, the missile seen in the above video appears to be an Iranian-made Ababil/Arman, and the sole publicly available image of the al-Quds 1 may not have even been photographed in Iraq.
The newly unveiled Qare’e would likely have been deserving of the name “Al-Asad shekan“ before the very recent withdrawal of American forces from al-Asad airbase, which was subject to an Iranian retaliatory ballistic missile attack in January 2020 following the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the United States.