(Bloomberg) -- A string of Iranian cross-border missile attacks showcased a new part of the Islamic Republic’s long-range arsenal in combat for the first time by using a weapon potentially capable of hitting Israel directly. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched the precision-guided Khaibar-Shekan, or Khaibar-Breaker, ballistic missile this week in a 1,300 kilometer (800 mile) strike on ISIS in Syria from southwestern Iran, the Tasnim news agency reported. That would make it the farthest such attack in the IRGC’s history.

The distance is almost identical to what would be required to hit Tel Aviv, and Iran has previously linked its development of the missile to a longstanding enmity with Israel. Iran has generally clashed with Israel via proxy groups, such as Hamas, rather than launch a direct attack.

Tehran claims Khaibar-Shekan has a 1,450 kilometer maximum range and that it can evade Israeli anti-missile defenses. The name appears to refer to a settlement in modern-day Saudi Arabia where the Muslim Prophet Muhammad fought against Jews in a seventh-century battle.

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“It’s probably the most sophisticated missile they have with the range to strike Israel,” said Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. 

“But of course when you want to use it against Israel you always have to deal with the fact you’re dealing with some of the world’s best missile defenses,” he said.

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A successful hit would depend on Iran’s ability to overwhelm those defenses, as Hamas tried to do in the Oct. 7 assault on Israel that sparked the ongoing war between the two sides. That would in turn depend on how many long-range missiles Iran has in its arsenal.

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The US estimates Tehran has over 3,000 ballistic missiles of different types and ranges including “some” that could reach the Jewish state. 

In a further risk to regional stability, Iran appears to have supplied the missile to its allies in Yemen, the Houthis, Hinz added. The militant group has upended trade in the Red Sea with attacks on commercial shipping it says are intended to pressure Israel into ending the war with Hamas.

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The same missile was also used in Iran’s simultaneous attack on an alleged Israeli “espionage headquarters” in northern Iraq this week, alongside shorter-range Fateh-313 and Fateh-110 models, state-run Nour News reported. 

Iran’s eastern neighbor Pakistan also accused Tehran of hitting its territory with missiles on Wednesday, though it’s not clear which munitions were used.

The IRGC could have used a shorter-range munition in the Syria strike, Hinz said. By choosing not to, it was either testing out its latest technology or “it was explicitly chosen to send a message to Israel,” he said.

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