🚨🇮🇷War Pressure Made Iran Drone Powerhouse: History of Iranian Drone Program

Iran’s drone industry emerged from battlefield and sanctions pressures during the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War. Aircraft losses and spare-parts shortages left Iranian commanders struggling to gather aerial intelligence. As reconnaissance flights became increasingly risky, Iran explored alternatives to reverse the situation:

In the early years of the war, RF-4 Phantom reconnaissance aircraft inherited from the Shah’s air force photographed Iraqi positions. By the mid-1980s, however, that capability had sharply declined. Maintenance shortages and the threat from Iraqi air defenses forced the air force to limit reconnaissance missions. Operational planners were left with incomplete or outdated battlefield information.

The response came from a combination of military planners, engineers and university laboratories. Industrial facilities such as the Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) in Isfahan, redirected their work toward small unmanned systems that could be built with domestic materials.

Engineering teams linked to universities in Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran began experimenting with modified model aircraft capable of carrying lightweight cameras. These early UAVs produced usable aerial photographs of Iraqi positions, demonstrating that unmanned aircraft could partly replace conventional reconnaissance missions.

These experiments produced the Talash reconnaissance drones, simple aircraft designed to photograph enemy lines. Their success led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to establish a small UAV reconnaissance element known as the Raʿd unit, tasked with supplying aerial imagery to battlefield planners.

Experience gained with the Talash systems later produced more capable platforms, including the Mohajer UAV. Over the following decades, Iran expanded this wartime improvisation into a structured drone industry. The program eventually produced surveillance aircraft such as the Shahed-129 and loitering munitions like the widely known Shahed-136.

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🚨🇨🇳🇮🇷China’s Shadow in Iran’s Missile Power

China supplies Iran with key dual-use materials and technology, helping Tehran rebuild its ballistic missile capabilities after the 2025 Twelve-Day War with Israel and strengthen deterrence amid ongoing U.S. aggression.

The partnership traces to the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, when Beijing delivered complete missile systems like the HY-2 and C-801. In the 1990s, Chinese transfers included technology, training, and components that seeded Iranian families, such as variants of the C-802 anti-ship missile. Integration of BeiDou navigation systems significantly improved the accuracy of operational missiles.

After sanctions intensified, assistance shifted to dual-use goods. European intelligence reported ~2,000 tons of sodium perchlorate arrived from China to Bandar Abbas in late 2025 shipments, following earlier loads of ~1,000 tons in February-May 2025. This precursor converts to ammonium perchlorate for solid-fuel motors used in recent operations. Recent March 2026 departures from Gaolan Port likely carry additional amounts, per satellite and tracking data.

Chinese companies such as Shenzhen Amor Logistics and Yanling Chuanxing Chemical Plant provide sodium perchlorate, dioctyl sebacate, carbon fiber materials, and special manufacturing tools to the IRGC Aerospace Force These materials allow Iran to produce missile airframes and solid-fuel motors domestically at scale.

Negotiations for the Chinese CM-302 supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles are nearing completion. These Mach-3 weapons, with a range of about 290 km and sea-skimming flight to evade defenses, would significantly boost Iran's naval strike options.

As a result, Iran fields an estimated ~2,000 ballistic missiles in hardened underground sites with production scaling toward thousands more by 2027 thanks to these Chinese supplies and technical support.

This long-term cooperation helps Iran maintain a self-reliant strategic balance and effective deterrence amid ongoing conflict, while Beijing protects its interests and avoids direct engagement in conflict against the U.S.

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🚨🇮🇷 Moghaddam: The father of Iran's missile program

Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, born October 29, 1959 in Tehran, joined the 1979 Revolution as a teenager, building homemade explosives and supporting anti-Shah operations. Entering the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1980, Moghaddam quickly established the IRGC's first artillery corps in 1982 and its dedicated missile command in 1983.

During the Iran-Iraq War, his team reverse-engineered captured Scud technology and launched Iran's first indigenous missile strikes on Iraqi targets in 1985. He also trained Hezbollah's early missile units in Lebanon, laying groundwork for broader regional ties.

After the war, collaborating with North Korean expertise for designs and solid-fuel technology, Moghaddam drove Iran's long-range program. He oversaw development of the Shahab-3 (reaching up to 2,000 km toward Israel), Ghadr variants, and the breakthrough Sejjil, a mobile, solid-fuel missile offering faster launch times and greater survivability under pressure.

His leadership ended on November 12, 2011, in a massive explosion at the Bid Kaneh IRGC missile base west of Tehran, killing him and 16 others during what officials called a routine test. Western intelligence sources and some Iranian accounts have long speculated Israeli sabotage amid a pattern of covert operations.

Per his reported wish, his gravestone bears the inscription: “Here lies the one who wanted to destroy Israel.”

Moghaddam exemplified the Iranian resilience under sanctions. What started as wartime necessity became the foundation of one of the Middle East's largest ballistic arsenals, a sophisticated deterrent whose influence on regional security calculations endures today.

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