Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution The Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution ( AFAGIR ) , also known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force ( IRGC AF ) , is the air force within the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution ( Islamic Revolutionary Guards ) . Parallel to the regular Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force ( IRIAF ) , the regular air branch of the Military of Iran , the Revolutionary Guards ' have their own air force . It shares facilities with the IRIAF . Aviation forces . Most public sources disagree on which aircraft are operated by the AFAGIR . The Washington Institute for Near East Policy said in 2005 that " [ t ] he backbone of the IRGCAF consists of ten Su - 25 Frogfoot attack aircraft ( including seven flown from Iraq to Iran during the 1991 Gulf War , kept airworthy with the help of Georgian technicians ) and around forty EMB - 312 Tucanos " . The Washington Institute also said that the IRGCAF maintained thirty Y - 12 and Dassault Falcon 20 light transports , as well as MFI - 17 Mushshak and Super Mushshak trainers and locally built Ababil and Mohajer reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) . The AFAGIR also operates a sizable rotary - wing force consisting of around twenty Mi - 171 helicopters for transport and armed assault roles , and a large transport force out of Shiraz , equipped with around fifteen ex - Iraqi Il - 76s ( originally operated by the IRIAF ) and twelve An - 74TK - 200 transports . " Scramble " backs up this picture in general , reporting An - 74 s , An - 14 s , and Su - 25 Ks at Tehran Mehrabad , Chengdu F - 7M s at Zahedan ( while saying that MFI - 17s were often reported at Zahedan incorrectly ) , and Il - 76 AEW variants at Shiraz Shahid Dastghaib International Airport , while saying that they might be based at Mehrabad . Scramble also said that an unknown number of " new " Su - 25s were delivered in 2003 . However , other later writings make no mention of Su - 25 s or Il - 76 s . Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies , writing in August 2007 , said only the AFAGIR " may operate Iran ' s 10 EMB - 312 Tucanos " , and that it " seems to operate many of Iran ' s 45 PC - 7 training aircraft " as well as Pakistani - built training aircraft at a school near Mushshak , " but this school may be run by the regular air force " . He also specifically said that reports of the Revolutionary Guards operating F - 7s did not seem to be correct . Cordesman also noted claims of the AFAGIR building gliders for use in unconventional warfare , saying that they would be unsuitable delivery platforms , but could at least carry a small number of weapons . However the attached reference was a 1996 Reuters report , making the sources for such assertions extremely thin . Finally , the IISS Military Balance 2007 makes no mention of aircraft at all , referring only to the Shahab 1 , 2 , and 3 missiles . On October 2009 It was announced that its name has been changed from IRGC Air Force to IRGC Aerospace Force . Current aircraft . ! style = " text - align : left ; background : # aabccc ; " | Aircraft ! style = " text - align : left ; background : # aabccc ; " | Type ! style = " text - align : left ; background : # aabccc ; " | In Service ! style = " text - align : left ; background : # aabccc ; " | Notes ! style = " align : center ; background : lavender ; " colspan = " 7 " | Close air support ! style = " align : center ; background : lavender ; " colspan = " 7 " | Transport ! style = " align : center ; background : lavender ; " colspan = " 7 " | Transport Helicopter ! style = " align : center ; background : lavender ; " colspan = " 7 " | Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Missile forces . The AFAGIR controls Iran ' s strategic missile forces . On August 2013 , Ahmad Vahidi . former defense minister of Iran said that his country is ranked sixth in the world in missile production . It is claimed to operate several thousand short - and medium - range mobile ballistic missiles , including the Shahab - 3 / 3B with a range of up to 2 , 100 kilometers , which is the mainstay of Iran ’ s strategic deterrent . If Iran ever produces nuclear weapons , the AFAGIR is likely to control them . Iran says that it has no intention of producing nuclear weapons . Despite earlier roots , the Iranian military industry started the missile development program in earnest during Iran ' s long and costly war with Iraq . At times , throughout the war Iran found that it could not strike certain Iraqi facilities or targets with its own forces . This resulted in an ambitious missile development programme that is still continuing . Today , Iran is developing space launch vehicles and sophisticated medium - range ballistic missiles . Iran ' s ballistic missiles possess the capability to deliver a variety of conventional high explosive and submunition , as well as MIRVs . Iran ' s achievements in missile development has been called " impressive " by IISS . On May 2013 Iran ' s Ministry of Defense and Logistics delivered a massive number of missile TELs to IRGC AF , “ Iranian television footage showed at least 26 TELs lined up in two rows for the event , which marked their purported delivery to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps ( IRGC ) Aerospace Force , which operates the country ’ s ballistic missiles , ” according to the report by IHS Jane ' s . Short range missiles . Solid fuel program The foundations for this were laid with the Oghab and Shahin - II missiles . These would lead the way for a number of other rocket artillery systems including Fajr , Nazeat , and Zelzal . The initial effort in this area relied heavily on technical help from the People ' s Republic of China in the form of assembly and manufacturing contracts during 1991 and 1992 . Iran was quick to surpass the Chinese level of assistance and became self - sufficient . Liquid fuel program After the war , Iran ' s experience of liquid fuel missiles had purely focused on the reverse engineering of Scud - B missiles . However , with the post war reorganisation the focus of the effort quickly changed and focused on assembly and maintenance . A domestic version of the Scud - B , known as Shahab - 1 , was developed and manufactured . This led to its successor the Shahab - 2 , a variant of the Scud - C , and finally the Shahab - 3 . All these programs relied heavily on Russia n and North Korean assistance . In recent years , Iranians developed multi - stage Shahab - 4 ( now apparently shelved ) , and reportedly also Shahab - 5 and Shahab - 6 , which are said to be derivations of North Korean Taepodong . Iranian engineers participated in the North Korean Taepodong - 2 missile launch on July 4 , 2006 . Since the end of the war , Iran has consistently attempted to recruit foreign help , as well as its large and highly qualified expatriate population , into its missile program . Iranian expatriates who left with the revolution have been slow to return , but many are now doing so and thus heralding a new age for Iran ' s missile development programme with their tremendous wealth of technical experience . Other missile systems Iran has an arsenal of short - range , liquid - fueled missiles including the Scud B and Scud C , and is now able to produce SCUD type missiles on its own , such as the R - 17E , a variant of the Russian Scud B . The Aerospace Industries Organization , a subsidiary of Iran ' s Ministry of Defense , supports the manufacturing process by engaging in SCUD missile restoration . Its short - range missile inventory also includes solid - fueled missiles , such as the Tondar - 69 and the Fateh - 110 . Also , Iranian artillery rockets include the Samid , the Shahin - II " Artillery Rocket " , the Naze ' at " Artillery Rocket " , the Zelzal - 1 , the Zelzal - 2 and the Zelzal - 3 . Longer range ballistic missiles ( 1000 km plus ) . , Iran has an active interest in developing , acquiring , and deploying a broad range of ballistic missiles , as well as developing a space launch capability . In mid - July 2008 , Iran launched a number of ballistic missiles during military exercises , reportedly including the medium - range Shahab - 3 . Iran announced other missile and space launch tests in August and November 2008 . In February 2009 , Iran announced it launched a satellite into orbit and “ officially achieved a presence in space . ” Fajr - 3 MIRV . The Fajr - 3 ( MIRV ) is currently Iran ' s most advanced ballistic missile . It is a domestically developed and produced liquid fuel missile with an unknown range . What makes it Iran ' s most advanced rocket is that the Iranian government says it has multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles ( MIRV ) capabilities . Its MIRV capability may give it the ability of avoiding anti - missile Surface - to - air missile s ( SAMs ) . The missile was last launched during Holy Prophet wargames , which was the IRGC ' s largest naval war games ever . The Fajr - 3 MIRV and the Fajr - 3 artillery rocket are different systems . Shahab - 3 . Shahab - 3 was the first Intermediate - range ballistic missile that was built by Iran ' s military . Its first model , also known as Shahab - 3A has a range of 1300 km . Soon after Iran came with a new model called Shahab - 3B , which has a range of 2000 km , and can carry a heavier warhead . Making this missile was a major step in Iran ' s missile industry , and it opened the way to longer range missiles . Shahab - 3D , which followed the Shahab - 3C , is Iran ' s latest Shahab model . A 2 , 000 km range threatens Russia ( as far as Moscow ) , Ukraine , part of Hungary , Serbia , Greece , Egypt , Arabia , parts of India and China , as well as countries closer to Iran . Jane ' s Information Group said in 2006 that Iran had six operational Shahab - 3 brigades , the first of which was established in July 2003 . They said that the six brigades were mainly equipped with standard variants , but with others described as enhanced Shahab - 3 variants , with ranges of 1300 km , 1500 km and 2000 km respectively . Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies however said only in August 2007 that ' the air force of the IRGC is believed to operate Iran ’ s three Shahab - 3 intermediate - range ballistic missiles units ' while noting that their actual operational status remains uncertain . Ghadr - 110 . The Ghadr - 110 is a medium - range ballistic missile designed and developed by Iran . The missile has a range of 1 , 800 to 2 , 000 km . and so is the longest range Iranian missile . It is believed to be an improved version of the Shahab - 3 , also known as the Ghadr - 101 . It has a liquid - fuel first stage and a solid - fuel second stage , which allowes it to have a range of 2 , 000 km . It has a higher maneuverability than the Shahab - 3 and a set - up time of 30 minutes which is shorter than that of the Shahab - 3 . Ashoura . November 2007 , Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad - Najjar announced Iran had built a new missile with a range of 2 , 000 km , the Ashoura missile . He did not say how the missile differed from the Shahab - 3 , which has a range of 2100 km . He told the gathering Basij militia during the manoeuvers they were holding that same week that : " " The construction of the Ashoura missile , with the range of 2 , 000 km , is among the accomplishments of the Defence Ministry . " " According to " Jane ' s Defence Weekly " , the Ashoura represents a major breakthrough in Iranian missile technology . It is the first two stage MRBM using solid - fueled rocket motors instead of the existing liquid - fueled technology used on the Shahab . This would dramatically reduce the setup and deployment time for the missile and hence , shorten the amount of warning time for the enemy . Jane ' s noted that while the development parallels Pakistan ' s Shaheen - II MRBM there is no evidence to suggest there had been any prior technology exchange or with its other known technology partners such as North Korea or China . Sejjil . The new two - stage solid - fuel missile has a range of nearly 2 , 500 km , it was tested on 12 November 2008 . An improved version , the Sejjil - 2 , was tested on 20 May 2009 . Improvements include better navigation system , better targeting system , more payload , longer range , faster lift - off , longer storage time , quicker launch and lower detection possibilities .