In the hours after Iran launched ballistic missiles at Islamic State targets in Syria on June 18, Western intelligence sources guessed that these were Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles. The following day, this assessment changed to Zulfiqar ballistic missiles instead. These relatively sophisticated missiles have a maximum range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), are equipped with independent navigation systems and are able to adjust trajectory in the air. Zulfiqar solid-fuel propellant rockets are produced by the Iranian military industry.

These kinds of missiles constitute one of the greatest nightmares known to Israeli security systems. Should Hezbollah acquire them, for instance, they could be used to target Israeli air force bases and other strategic targets as well. Therefore, in the initial hours after the Iranian launch, key Middle East players viewed the strike with great severity. It was the first time in about 30 years that the Iranians launched ballistic missiles at a neighboring country, while violating the sovereignty of a third state (Iraq).

“This was a message to the Sunni axis,” a high-level Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “But not only that, it was also a message directed at basically the entire region and its players, including the US coalition and, of course, Israel."

The real picture began to emerge a day later, and a partial sigh of relief was heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. According to various intelligence assessments, only one of the missiles (out of seven in total) struck anywhere near the target. Most of them fell on the way, while another evidently fell in the environs of the target, but not near it. The Zulfiqar is reputed to have a precision of up to 10-20 meters (33-66 feet).