Direct proof of use
The Ghadr/Qadr ballistic missile's documented appearance in the 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict rests on Iranian state and IRGC-attributed reports about the 21st wave of Operation True Promise III. IRNA reported on June 23, 2025 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said multiwarhead Kheibar missiles, identified in the article as Qadr-H, were fired at Israel for the first time during that wave. Mehr News carried the same IRGC-attributed claim, saying the strike used solid- and liquid-fueled ballistic missiles and smart drones.
The evidence directly supports Iranian claimed firing of Qadr-H/Kheibar missiles against Israel. The public record is narrower on independent subtype confirmation: FDD's Long War Journal documented Iranian ballistic-missile attacks against Israel on June 23, but did not identify the missiles in those attacks as Qadr-H.
Sources: IRNA Kheibar Qadr-H Strike Report, Mehr Kheibar Qadr-H Strike Report, FDD June 23 Missile Attacks
Timeline
The conflict opened on June 13, 2025, when Israel began a major military operation against Iran and Iran retaliated with waves of ballistic missiles against Israel. CRS described the June fighting as including Israeli strikes, Iranian ballistic-missile retaliation, U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran's June 23 attack on Al Udeid Air Base, and an announced ceasefire on June 24.
On June 23, Iranian outlets attributed the 21st Operation True Promise III wave to the IRGC and identified the fired multiwarhead Kheibar missile as Qadr-H. ISNA's June 24 account of the same phase named Kheibar Shekan, Emad, Qadr, and Fattah-1 among missiles used in Monday's operation, while FDD counted multiple Iranian missile attacks against Israel that day.
Sources: CRS Israel-Iran Conflict and Ceasefire, IRNA Kheibar Qadr-H Strike Report, ISNA True Promise III Missile Wave, FDD June 23 Missile Attacks
Role in the conflict
Within the conflict record, Ghadr/Qadr is best treated as an Iranian long-range strike weapon. The June 23 claim was operational use by the IRGC in a missile-and-drone attack wave against Israel, not a transfer, possession-only sighting, or captured-equipment event.
CSIS describes Ghadr-1 as an Iranian road-mobile liquid-propellant Shahab-3 variant with a reported range of roughly 1,600 to 1,950 kilometers. Iran Watch lists Ghadr as a deployed medium-range ballistic missile with a 1,600-kilometer range estimate, placing the system family in the range class used for strikes between Iran and Israel.
Sources: IRNA Kheibar Qadr-H Strike Report, CSIS Emad Ghadr Shahab-3 Variants, Iran Watch Missile Arsenal Table
Battlefield effect and attribution limits
Iranian reports described the Qadr-H/Kheibar firing as a first use of a multiwarhead missile and asserted that targets were hit across Israel. FDD's June 23 tracking provides a more conservative external frame: it reported one drone attack and three ballistic-missile attacks that day, totaling 11 to 16 ballistic missiles, with most intercepted and four impacts in Israel.
JINSA's broader summary of the June 13-24 war reported roughly 574 Iranian ballistic missiles and 1,100 drones fired at Israel. Those aggregate figures support the scale of Iran's missile campaign, but they do not independently identify Qadr-H in the June 23 wave. This page therefore treats Qadr-H use as an Iranian claimed firing corroborated at the attack-wave level, while leaving target effects and subtype identification as attribution-bound.
Sources: IRNA Kheibar Qadr-H Strike Report, Mehr Kheibar Qadr-H Strike Report, FDD June 23 Missile Attacks, JINSA Iran Summary June 2025
