South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Al-Monitor on a discussion on Iran’s missile program with Michael Elleman, an expert on missiles at the International Institute for Strategic Studies:
While attention has focused on curbing Iran’s ability to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon, sanctions, sabotage, technical problems and political calculation have combined to set back Iran’s development of missiles that could potentially deliver such a weapon.
Michael Elleman, an expert on missiles at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor in an interview Dec. 16 that the Iranians are “a little bit behind where I thought they would be” in developing missiles with a range beyond 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), and have focused instead on trying to improve the accuracy and lethality of systems with a range of less than 250 kilometers (155 miles).