On a recent afternoon, families and students ventured out to an exhibition at Iran’s National Aerospace Park in western Tehran to see a collection rarely displayed in public: the Islamic republic’s weapons.
Children clambered on to armoured vehicles in the garden, while adults circled the ballistic and hypersonic missiles towering inside a vast hangar. The remnants of an Israeli Hermes drone, shot down during the Israel-Iran war in June, were carefully displayed on the ground.
Nasrin, a 35-year-old accountant, paused in front of a Sejjil ballistic missile, recalling seeing it on social media streaking across the sky during the conflict. “Thanks to these missiles, the US and Israel knelt down before us,” she said. “Without them, Iran would have become like Gaza.”
The exhibition last month was part of a campaign to not only project an image of strength — after a war in which the Islamic republic suffered severe blows — but to assure the Iranian people that, if necessary, the country is ready to fight again.
“People are seeing these missiles and drones up close, and realise they’re locally made weapons to defend the homeland,” Ali Balali, a brigadier general from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the exhibition director, said. “Our capabilities place us within the club of nations known for significant missile development.”
The exhibition at the National Aerospace Park was partly an attempt to shift the narrative away from vulnerabilities exposed during the conflict with Israel and the US © Vahid Salemi/AP
In the months since the 12-day war, in which the US briefly intervened before negotiating a ceasefire, many Iranians say they feel suspended in a state of “no war, no peace”.
Iran has barred UN inspectors from its most sensitive nuclear sites, which the US bombed, and has been in a stalemate with Washington over restarting negotiations on its atomic energy programme. European nations have also reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
This has led to growing concern within Iran that it may be a question of when, not if, the conflict restarts. “Our missile capability must continue to grow,” said Sara, a 19-year-old psychology student at the aerospace park. “The war could resume at any moment.”
Officials insist Iran’s military readiness is being rapidly restored. But the exhibition also formed part of an effort to shift the public narrative away from vulnerabilities exposed during the conflict, when Israel killed dozens of senior commanders and nuclear scientists in a devastating opening salvo. More than 1,000 people were killed in Iran, according to local officials.
The exhibition sought to frame the war as a learning experience that would accelerate Iran’s technological progress © Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
But by firing what it says were more than 600 missiles in return — the largest barrage Israel has faced in its history — Iran argues it forced the war to a halt.
Israeli officials say most were intercepted, though Iran says its strikes hit sensitive military and industrial sites in Tel Aviv and Haifa — something Israel has not confirmed. Israeli authorities say more than 30 people were killed in the country.
Iranian officials argue that the war should be assessed not only by the casualties but the cost incurred by Israel and the US of intercepting relatively cheap Iranian munitions and carrying out long-range aerial attacks, including with expensive precision-guided missiles.
The exhibition sought to frame the war as a learning experience that would only accelerate the Islamic republic’s technological progress.
It charted how the country went from having no missiles during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s to becoming an exporter of weapons.
Shahed drones, used by Russia in its war against Ukraine, were prominently exhibited, as were several other drones reverse engineered from US and Israeli models that Iran captured.
But the Islamic republic has also sought to reckon with its failures. Locally-made radar systems failed to prevent Israeli jets and drones from striking Tehran. And in recent interviews with hardline director Javad Mogouei on YouTube, ministers and military commanders admitted they were blindsided by Israel’s tactics.
“We were taken by surprise by the way the enemy operated,” said Mohammad Reza Naghdi, a Revolutionary Guards deputy commander during the war. “We did not think that they would target our commanders and scientists in their own homes along with their families. We miscalculated and admit that we were wrong.”
The most embarrassing moment came with the assassination of Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024, when Iran declined to retaliate against Israel. Officials now acknowledge that this was not strategic restraint but the result of an uncomfortable truth: Tehran realised it lacked the capabilities to respond effectively, and needed time to rebuild.
Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told Mogouei that Iran had worked to upgrade the accuracy and efficacy of its missiles in the intervening period.
“We are working around the clock to reach a new level of readiness,” Naeini said. “Without long-range ballistic missiles, this war would have lasted eight years [like the war with Iraq], not 12 days. It would have taken us a year, not hours, to go on the offensive.”
A drone at the exhibit. Russia uses Iranian-made Shahed drones in its war in Ukraine © Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA
As the conflict with Israel progressed, Iran launched fewer — if more destructive — missiles, prompting some analysts to argue Iran’s underground weapons storage facilities must have been damaged.
Naghdi rejected this. “Israel has not destroyed even 3 per cent of our missile launchers,” he told Mogouei. “The technology is so localised you can build a launcher in a blacksmith’s workshop.”
A senior Western diplomat in Tehran said missile sites may now be moved deeper into eastern Iran — further away from Israeli and American jets — for greater protection. “If we keep the enemy’s targets beyond its access, there won’t be another war,” Naghdi said. “Their costs must exceed their achievements.”
Western diplomats are also watching for signs of whether the republic is seeking foreign assistance to rebuild its military strength. The key issue, as one put it, is whether countries like Russia, China and Pakistan are offering support to Iran.
For many visitors to the aerospace park, the conclusion of their day out was clear: Iran’s future depended not only on protecting, but bolstering its weapons programme.
“If we put aside our missile programme, we will be attacked more severely next time,” said Keyvan, a 27-year-old computer engineer. “After the war, we realise more than ever how invaluable these missiles are.”
Graphic illustration by Ian Bott