Image caption Iran first tested the Sajil missile in 2008.

The recent armed conflict between Israel and Iran is a test of both countries' combat capabilities as well as their weapons.

When Iran attacked Israel again late Wednesday night, it claimed for the first time that an Iranian Sajil-2 missile had been used in the attack.

However, Israel claims that the Israeli military thwarted the Sejjil missile attack and successfully intercepted it with the help of a defense system.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have said that the attacks late Wednesday night were carried out as part of "Operation Promise of Truth 3."

The statement issued by the Revolutionary Guards said that "the 12th retaliatory operation of Operation Promised Sadiq 3 has been launched with a very heavy and long-range two-stage Sajil missile".

The statement, describing the characteristics of this missile, claims that Sajil is one of Iran's most powerful and accurate strategic weapons, capable of destroying key enemy targets. Images of Iran using the Sejal-II missile are also circulating on social media, and the debate over the Sejal missile has intensified after the Iranian attack.

How powerful is the Sajil missile?

Image caption The stylish missile is about 18 metres long and is powered by solid fuel, which makes it deadly.

Sajil is a medium-range ballistic missile capable of hitting targets up to 2,000 kilometers away.

With this range, this missile can target the entire Middle East, including Israel, southeastern Europe, and parts of Central Asia, from Iran.

If it were launched from the Iranian city of Natanz, it could reach the Israeli city of Tel Aviv in just seven minutes.

The Sajil missile is approximately 18 meters long and runs on solid fuel, giving it an advantage over missiles that use other types of fuel.

Due to its use of solid fuel, it can be prepared for launch more quickly, has a better capacity to store explosives, and can be more effective during combat.

This missile can carry a warhead weighing approximately 700 kilograms and, thanks to this, has considerable destructive potential against its target.

The first successful test of this missile was conducted in 2008 and in that test it covered a distance of 800 kilometers.

Its second test took place in May 2009, testing advanced technology and navigation systems.

According to the US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, "There could be several variants of the Sajil missile. In 2009, Iran tested a missile called the Sajil 2.

An unconfirmed report says that the Sajil 3 could be even better. The Sajil 3 is a three-stage missile with a maximum range of 4,000 kilometers and a weight of 38,000 kilograms. Iran has not publicly tested the Sajil missile since 2012, but it was tested during a military exercise in 2021, nearly a decade later.

Iran's missile program continues to grow despite sanctions

Image caption Iran has used hypersonic Al-Fath missiles in addition to the Sajjil in recent attacks against Israel.

According to the US-based Peace Institute, Iran has the largest and most diverse stockpile of ballistic missiles in the Middle East. At the same time, Iran is the only country in the region that does not have nuclear weapons, but its ballistic missiles can reach a distance of 2,000 kilometers. Ballistic technology was developed during World War II, but only a few countries in the world have the ability to build ballistic missiles themselves using this technology.

Iran has acquired this technology and developed ballistic missiles over the past two decades despite severe international sanctions. Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei said in a speech that the military and missile programs that the West is concerned about were all developed under sanctions.

Iran currently produces more than 50 types of rockets, ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as military drones, some of which have been used in global conflicts such as the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Iran has claimed that its new generation of missiles is a hypersonic weapon, which is a type of weapon that travels at speeds typically five to twenty-five times the speed of sound.

Iran introduced the 'Fatah' missile for the first time as a hypersonic missile in both ballistic and cruise categories.

The 'Al-Fatah' hypersonic missile has a range of 1,400 kilometers and the IRGC has claimed that it is capable of evading and destroying all missile defense systems.

The 'Al-Fath' is a generation of solid-fuel missiles that reach speeds of Mach 13 to 15 before hitting their target. Mach 15 means a speed of five kilometers per second. (BBC Urdu)