Iran holds a new round of nuclear talks with the United States on Thursday in Geneva. Its arsenal of missiles has been a sticking point in negotiations.

Here are some details about Iran’s missiles:

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 US 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 US participation in Israel’s air war by firing missiles at the US 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 Daesh in Syria.

In 2020, Iran launched missiles at US-led forces in Iraq in retaliation for a US 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 US-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.

President Donald Trump said that two Muslim Democratic US Representatives, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, should be “institutionalised” and sent back to “where they came from,” a day after they had a heated exchange with him during his State of the Union address.

Both Omar and Tlaib shouted “you’re killing Americans” at Trump during his speech, with Omar also calling him a “liar.”

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said the two lawmakers “had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized.”

“We should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible,” Trump added. Both Omar and Tlaib are U.S. citizens.

House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries cast Trump’s rhetoric against Tlaib and Omar as “xenophobic” and “disgraceful.” Tlaib said on X that Trump’s comments showed “he is crashing out.”

Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations also said Trump’s comments were racist.

“It’s racist and bigoted to say two Muslim US lawmakers should be sent to the country they were born in or where their ancestors came from based on their criticism of the gunning down of Americans by ICE,” CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that members of the media have “smeared” the president as a racist.

Trump’s immigration enforcement actions were criticised following two separate January fatal shootings of US citizens by federal agents in Minnesota. At least eight people have died in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centres since the start of 2026, following at least 31 deaths last year.

During his Tuesday speech, Trump reiterated his accusation that Somali communities in the US have engaged in fraud and claimed that “Somali pirates” had ransacked Minnesota. His administration had used fraud allegations to deploy armed federal immigration agents in Minnesota.

Trump has cast his actions as aiming to tackle fraud and improve domestic security.

Rights groups say the crackdown has created a fearful environment and that Trump has used isolated fraud cases as an excuse to target immigrants. They also dismiss Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from him to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past.

Trump also recently faced criticism after his social media account posted a video that contained a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.

• US military buildup has raised fears of regional conflict.
• Khamenei faces internal pressure due to economy, protests.
• Iran has indicated it could make concessions.

GENEVA: Iran and the US hold the latest round of talks in Geneva on Thursday aimed at resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute and averting new US strikes on Iran following a large-scale military buildup.

The two countries renewed negotiations this month, hoping to tackle a decades-long stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington, other Western states and Israel believe is aimed at building nuclear arms. Tehran denies this.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will attend the indirect talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a US official told Reuters. The talks follow discussions in Geneva last week and will be mediated by Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi.

US President Donald Trump briefly laid out his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday, saying his preference was to solve the problem through diplomacy, but that he would not allow Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.

Pressure inside and outside Iran

On Wednesday, US Vice President JD Vance underscored Trump’s argument.

“Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. That would be the ultimate military objective, if that’s the route that (Trump) chose,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News.

The US has been assembling a massive military force in the Middle East, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict. In June last year, the US joined Israel in hitting Iranian nuclear sites. Iran has threatened to retaliate fiercely if attacked again.

Trump said on February 19 that Iran must make a deal in 10-15 days, warning that “really bad things” would otherwise happen.

Araqchi on Tuesday said his country aims to achieve a fair, swift deal, but reiterated that it would not forgo its right to peaceful nuclear technology. Washington views nuclear enrichment inside Iran as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons.

“A deal is within reach, but only if diplomacy is given priority,” Araqchi said in a statement on X.

Reuters reported on Sunday that Tehran was offering fresh concessions in return for removal of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium, as it seeks to avert a US attack.

However, both sides remain sharply divided – even over the scope and sequencing of relief from crippling US sanctions — a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

Within Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei faces the gravest crisis of his 36-year tenure, with an economy struggling under the weight of tightened sanctions and renewed protests following major unrest and a bloody crackdown in January.

International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi is also expected to be in Geneva during the talks to hold discussions with both sides, as he did last week.