TEHRAN/TEL AVIV, Mar 19: The surprising display of immense strength and resilience
by Iran in an even war with the US-Israel alliance has shocked observers. Has
the US calculations gone awry. Why is it seeking international help to go anywhere
near the Strait of Hormuz. Why have the Abraham Lincoln and Ford retreated.? (See on X: Dancing Missile)
Tehran continues to fight on fiercely. It has suddenly opened up an inexhaustible
home-made arsenal composed of technologically advanced weapons like 'dancing
missiles' that evade interception. And it comes coupled with a new defence strategy
called the Mosaic Defence Doctrine developed by Mohammad Ali Jafari.
The week started with an unprecedented escalation. The Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) has fundamentally altered the geometry of the ongoing conflict.
On Sunday, for the first time in its history, Iran deployed its most advanced
solid-fuel ballistic missile, the Sejjil, in a direct strike against Tel Aviv.
The launch signifies more than a technical upgrade; it is the opening salvo
of a "Hydra-style" retaliation strategy that has left Western intelligence agencies
scrambling to adapt.
The ‘Dancing Missile’
The Sejjil is the crown jewel of Iran’s long-range arsenal. Unlike the liquid-fueled
Shahab series, the Sejjil uses solid-state propellant, allowing it to be fueled
months in advance and launched from mobile TEL (Transporter Erector Launcher)
vehicles in under seven minutes.
Dubbed the "Dancing Missile" by regional analysts, the Sejjil features a multi-stage
design and a re-entry vehicle capable of high-speed manoeuvres. This allows
the warhead to "dance" or shift its trajectory in the terminal phase, specifically
designed to spoof and bypass sophisticated interceptors like the Arrow-3 and
David’s Sling. On Sunday, at least one Sejjil warhead reportedly impacted near
the Kirya defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, proving that even the world’s most
dense air defence umbrella has its limits.
Mohammad Ali Jafari
The unexpected ferocity of this campaign is being credited to the "ghost leadership"
of Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari. While Jafari formally stepped down as
IRGC Commander-in-Chief in 2019, his 12-year tenure (2007–2019) was dedicated
to preparing for exactly this scenario: a decapitation strike against Tehran’s
central leadership.
Jafari, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, concluded that a centralized military
is a fragile one. Drawing from the 2003 collapse of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, where
the "top-down" command was paralyzed once Baghdad fell, Jafari spent a decade
rebuilding the IRGC into a 31-province "Mosaic."
Mosaic Defence: The Doctrine of Attrition
The Decentralized Mosaic Defence is the Iranian evolution of the German Auftragstaktik
(mission-type tactics). It rests on three pillars:
Iran is divided into 31 independent military commands (one for each province).
Each commander has pre-delegated authority to launch missiles, deploy drones
and engage in guerrilla warfare without a single "green light" from Tehran.
Even with the confirmed killing of Ali Larijani and other top officials, the
"Mosaic" remains intact. For every central command node destroyed by Allied
strikes, 31 autonomous units have begun retaliating independently. This "Hydra"
structure ensures that as the "head" of the government is targeted, the "limbs"
strike back with increased ferocity.
By shifting to a doctrine of prolonged attrition, Jafari’s architecture has
turned the Iranian landscape into a "porcupine" that is impossible to swallow.
"The Americans are fighting a ghost," one regional analyst noted. "They are
looking for a centre of gravity that no longer exists."
As Sejjil missiles continue to roll out of hidden silos in the Zagros Mountains,
the message from the IRGC’s autonomous commands is clear: the war is no longer
about winning—it is about making the cost of victory for the enemy too high
to bear
How Sejjil works
Most missiles use solid-fuel rocket motors for an instant, powerful launch.
For longer distances, some switch to air-breathing engines (like turbojets or
ramjets), which are essentially high-speed jet engines that suck in oxygen from
the atmosphere to keep burning fuel.
Unlike a bullet, a missile is a tiny aircraft. It uses fins or canards (small
wings near the nose) to create lift and stability. At supersonic speeds, even
the shape of the missile body itself helps generate "body lift" to keep it from
falling out of the sky.
Missiles use inertial navigation. The onboard gyroscopes tell where they are
relative to where they started. Its active radar sends out its own "pings" to
find a target.
To change direction, the missile adjusts its control surfaces (the fins). At
very high altitudes where the air is too thin for fins to work, some use Thrust
Vector Control (TVC), which tilts the engine nozzle itself to "push" the missile
into a turn.
Advanced, domestically developed Sejjil
The Sejjil is Iran’s most advanced domestically developed ballistic missile
capable of striking anywhere in West Asia and beyond with an estimated range
of around 2,000 km. It is a two-stage, solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile
(MRBM), the solid fuel enabling faster deployment. Its payload is 700 kg and
is about 18 metres long. The Sejjil is called a “dancing missile” because of
its ability to manoeuvre during flight, preventing interception. Its solid fuel
reduces warning time in launch.
Its dancing manoeuvres make tracking by defence systems like the Iron Dome
difficult. It is difficult to make predictions about where the missile goes.
Ashoura was developed as a faster-launching alternative to the Shahab series.
Iran''s barrage includes a mix of ballistic missiles such as Khorramshahr (liquid),
Khaybar-shekan (solid), Qadr (hybrid) and Emad (liquid), alongwith Sejjil. And
they are deployed independently by regional military units.
On the first day of the war, February 28, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General Mohammad Pakpour, Defence Minister Brigadier
General Aziz Nasirzadeh, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Seyyed
Abdolrahim Mousavi, and other senior figures were eliminated.
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