'Here is the tomb of a person who wanted to destroy Israel.' Those are the words inscribed on the grave of Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the man who is now known as the ‘Father of Iran’s missile programme’.
After Iran entered into war with its neighbour Iraq in 1980, Moghaddam, who had just graduated with a degree in Industrial engineering, was tasked with leading the newly formed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' missile unit. The unit had suddenly seen a need for air combat after Iraq invaded the country.
During the time, Tehran had relied on Russian-made missiles from Syria and Libya to make up for its lack of an air defence programme.
Moghaddam stepped up and began paving the way for the country’s now extensive missile programme.
On March 12 1982, Iran’s first missile was fired at the city of Kirkuk.
Moghaddam was born on October 29, 1959, in the Sarcheshmeh neighbourhood of Tehran as the fourth child in his family. In his youth, he demonstrated his skills in engineering by constructing homemade bombs. He later joined a militia group in Gilan, which engaged in an armed struggle against the Shah’s regime.
Many of Iran’s first-ever missiles were reported to have been based on and stolen from Russian-origin Libyan models.
It is believed that Tehrani Moghaddam reverse-engineered the designs of the Russian-based Scud-B missiles to recreate them. Moghaddam, along with a dozen IRGC officers were later sent to Syria to be trained on the use of the missiles. Reports also say that he trained in ballistic science by China and North Korea.
In 1985, he was appointed the commander of the IRGC's new Aerospace Force.
Chief adviser to Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brigadier General Ali Balali, said last year: “Thanks to Taherani Moghadam’s efforts, the Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) missile was designed and built."
Tehrani Moghaddam was behind the design of strategic missile systems like the Shaheb 1 and 2 and the long-range Shaheb-3. Moghaddam later improved the Shaheb 3 to create the Ghadr-110, a missile with a range of 1800 to 2000 kilometres.
Hossein Salami, the deputy head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp had called the Moghaddam “the architect of the IRGC’s missile power.”
On November 12, 2011, Moghaddam was killed along with 16 other IRGC officers after a massive blast shook the Alghadir missile base at Bid Ganeh. It was the same location where the IRGC was creating plans for its first-ever transcontinental ballistic missile. The location also housed the Shahed-3, which could reach over 1,300 kilometres, which was based on a North Korean design.
In the aftermath, Time Magazine speculated that Israel's intelligence agency Mossad was behind the attack that led to his death.
In 2016, Tehrani Moghaddam's brother, Mohammad Tehrani Moghaddam reafirmed the speculation, saying, “This was not just a simple accident, but a carefully-planned operation. Mossad was trying to assassinate my brother for many years before that.” He later retracted his statements. The IRGC’s public relations department was also quick to rule out sabotage shortly after the attack.
After his death, Iran launched a widespread TV propaganda campaign to praise Moghaddam’s efforts and work. Western powers saw his death as a devastating blow to the country’s missile ambitions.
About seven years later, The New York Times reported that a research review of the TV campaign after his death led to the discovery that Iran had built a secret facility in the desert to develop long-range missile systems and technology. They found photographs with Tehrani Moghaddam in Shahrud, and further digging revealed his involvement in the facility.
The facility was operating and expanding each year after his death, which showed that Iran's missile programme had, in fact, faced no setback. Tehrani Moghaddam had already completed the foundation of the programme by then.
The investigation also showed that by then, Iran had completed the preliminary steps to develop an inter-continental ballistic missile within five to 10 years.
In June 2025, the Shahrud facility was attacked and damaged by Israeli airstrikes. A year later, satellite imagery showed that the facility had been rebuilt.
The pioneering work of Moghaddam on Iran's missile technology is seen to this day, as it continues to have the the most extensive and diverse missile arsenal and program in the Middle East.
