New missile in Israel-Iran conflict: What we know about Tehran's Sejil
Despite its frequent appearance in the Tehran regime's military parades since it was reportedly brought into service in 2012, the Sejil missile's launch against Israel marks the first time one of its prized assets was used in direct confrontation.
Its real-world application also reveals a shift in gears in Tehran's deterrence calculations and response.
The Sejil, or "Brimstone", is classified as a surface-to-surface ballistic missile and was developed entirely inside Iran by the Ministry of Defence-run Aerospace Industries Organisation.
Although some reports claimed that Tehran used similar Chinese-made missiles as a technical basis for the Sejil, its size and other features suggest it is entirely designed and produced in Iran.
The missile, developed to replace the Shabab class of rockets in service since the late 1980s, has a range of about 2,000 kilometres and uses solid fuel as propellant, making it quicker to launch compared to liquid-fueled equivalents.
The Sejil is manoeuvrable in all stages of flight, making it difficult to intercept by conventional air defence systems. Although details on its speed are unclear, Tehran reportedly stated that it is capable of reaching Tel Aviv in approximately seven minutes if launched from central Iran.
In terms of technical specifications, reports say it measures 25 metres in length, 1.25 metres in diameter, and weighs approximately 2.3 metric tonnes. It can carry warheads weighing up to 700 kilograms and is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The Sejil first appeared in a field test in 2008, before its improved version, the Sejil-2, was developed in 2009. In this version, the warhead design was modified, and guidance wings were added to enhance accuracy.
However, some reports claim that Sejil-2 might not be a separate model, but rather a test name for the same rocket. Yet footage from 2021 military exercises featuring the Sejil shows updates to earlier missiles of the same model have been made, notably to its jet vanes.
Furthermore, rumours of another updated model, the Sejil-3, say that a more modern version was developed with a maximum range of 4,000 kilometres, meaning that in theory it could almost reach Brussels from Tehran.
Israeli authorities said on Thursday that the Sejil was successfully intercepted, with debris causing damage to a vehicle.
China dispatched 74 military aircraft towards the Taiwan Strait between late Thursday and early Friday, with 61 of them crossing its median line, the Taiwanese defence ministry has said.
The incursion, which represents one of the largest in recent months, began a day after the UK sailed a navy ship across the strait, in a move welcomed by Taipei but condemned by Beijing.
The Chinese planes were sent in two separate waves, with six naval vessels also accompanying the manoeuvres, according to Taiwan.
Beijing regards the democratically governed island as part of its own territory and has stepped up such deployments to demonstrate its readiness to encircle and potentially invade Taiwan.
Analysts say the moves are also aimed at intimidating Taiwan's population and exhausting its military resources and morale.
Taiwan responded by scrambling its own fighter jets, deploying naval ships and activating land-based missile systems to monitor the incursion.
The incident came after the British patrol vessel HMS Spey passed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcome the patrol, saying it 'once again (reaffirmed the Strait's) status as international waters".
'Such transits by the UK and other like-minded countries are encouraged to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific,' it added.
Britain's de facto embassy in Taipei said the HMS Spey was legally within its rights to sail through the strait.
'Wherever the Royal Navy operates, it does so in full compliance with international law and exercises its right to Freedom of Navigation and overflight,' it stated.
However, Beijing condemned the Royal Navy's actions, with the Chinese army saying the British vessel had 'deliberately disturbed the situation and undermined the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait".
While the timing raised speculation, it remains unclear whether China's large-scale aerial deployment was a direct response to the British naval transit.
The Taiwan Strait is an important international waterway, but Beijing routinely objects to the presence of foreign military vessels in the area.
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To move beyond that, South Korea bet on electronics, Taiwan on semiconductors, and Singapore on finance, said Richard McClellan, founder of the consultancy RMAC Advisory. But Vietnam's economy today is more diverse and complex than those countries were at the time and it can't rely on just one winning sector to drive long-term growth and stay competitive as wages rise and cheap labour is no longer its main advantage. It needs to make 'multiple big bets,' McClellan said. Vietnam's game plan Following China's lead, Vietnam is counting on high-tech sectors like computer chips, artificial intelligence and renewable energy, providing strategic tax breaks and research support in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang. It's also investing heavily in infrastructure, including civilian nuclear plants and a $67 billion (€57bn) North–South high-speed railway, that will cut travel time from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to eight hours. Vietnam also aspires to become a global financial center. The government plans two special financial centres in bustling Ho Chi Minh City and in the seaside resort city of Danang, with simplified rules to attract foreign investors, tax breaks, support for financial tech startups, and easier ways to settle business disputes. Underpinning all of this is institutional reform. Ministries are being merged, low-level bureaucracies have been eliminated and Vietnam's 63 provinces will be consolidated into 34 to build regional centres with deeper talent pools. Private business to take the lead Vietnam is counting on private businesses to lead its new economic push—a seismic shift from the past. In May, the Communist Party passed Resolution 68. It calls private businesses the 'most important force' in the economy, pledging to break away from domination by state-owned and foreign companies. 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Vietnam is racing to pre-empt the fallout by expanding access to preventive healthcare so older adults remain healthier and more independent. Gradually raising the retirement age and drawing more women into the formal workforce would help offset labour gaps and promote "healthy ageing,' Bussarawan said.
Euronews
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Vietnam's transformation into a global manufacturing hub with shiny new highways, high-rise skylines and a booming middle class has lifted millions of its people from poverty, similar to China. But its low-cost, export-led boom is slowing and it faces a growing obstacle to its proposed reforms—expanding private industries, strengthening social protections and investing in technology and green energy—from climate change. 'It's all hands on deck. . . . We can't waste time anymore," said Mimi Vu of the consultancy Raise Partners. The export boom can't carry Vietnam forever Investment has soared, driven partly by US-China trade tensions, and the US is now Vietnam's biggest export market. Once-quiet suburbs have been replaced with industrial parks where trucks rumble through sprawling logistics hubs that serve global brands. Vietnam ran a $123.5 billion (€105bn) trade surplus with the US trade in 2024, angering Trump, who threatened a 46% US import tax on Vietnamese goods. The two sides appear to have settled on a 20% levy, and twice that for goods suspected of being transshipped, or routed through Vietnam to avoid US trade restrictions. During negotiations with the Trump administration, Vietnam's focus was on its tariffs compared to those of its neighbours and competitors, said Daniel Kritenbrink, a former US ambassador to Vietnam. 'As long as they're in the same zone, in the same ballpark, I think Vietnam can live with that outcome," he said. But he added that questions remain over how much Chinese content in those exports might be too much and how such goods will be taxed. Vietnam was preparing to shift its economic policies even before Trump's tariffs threatened its model of churning out low-cost exports for the world, aware of what economists call the 'middle-income trap,' when economies tend to plateau without major reforms. To move beyond that, South Korea bet on electronics, Taiwan on semiconductors, and Singapore on finance, said Richard McClellan, founder of the consultancy RMAC Advisory. But Vietnam's economy today is more diverse and complex than those countries were at the time and it can't rely on just one winning sector to drive long-term growth and stay competitive as wages rise and cheap labour is no longer its main advantage. It needs to make 'multiple big bets,' McClellan said. Vietnam's game plan Following China's lead, Vietnam is counting on high-tech sectors like computer chips, artificial intelligence and renewable energy, providing strategic tax breaks and research support in cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang. It's also investing heavily in infrastructure, including civilian nuclear plants and a $67 billion (€57bn) North–South high-speed railway, that will cut travel time from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to eight hours. Vietnam also aspires to become a global financial center. The government plans two special financial centres in bustling Ho Chi Minh City and in the seaside resort city of Danang, with simplified rules to attract foreign investors, tax breaks, support for financial tech startups, and easier ways to settle business disputes. Underpinning all of this is institutional reform. Ministries are being merged, low-level bureaucracies have been eliminated and Vietnam's 63 provinces will be consolidated into 34 to build regional centres with deeper talent pools. Private business to take the lead Vietnam is counting on private businesses to lead its new economic push—a seismic shift from the past. In May, the Communist Party passed Resolution 68. It calls private businesses the 'most important force' in the economy, pledging to break away from domination by state-owned and foreign companies. So far, large multinationals have powered Vietnam's exports, using imported materials and parts and low cost local labour. Local companies are stuck at the low-end of supply chains, struggling to access loans and markets that favoured the 700-odd state-owned giants, from colonial-era beer factories with arched windows to unfashionable state-run shops that few customers bother to enter. 'The private sector remains heavily constrained," said Nguyen Khac Giang of Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. Again emulating China, Vietnam wants 'national champions' to drive innovation and compete globally, not by picking winners, but by letting markets decide. The policy includes easier loans for companies investing in new technology, priority in government contracts for those meeting innovation goals, and help for firms looking to expand overseas. Even mega-projects like the North-South High-Speed Rail, once reserved for state-run giants, are now open to private bidding. By 2030, Vietnam hopes to elevate at least 20 private firms to a global scale. But Giang warned that there will be pushback from conservatives in the Communist Party and from those who benefit from state-owned firms. A Closing Window from climate change Even as political resistance threatens to stall reforms, climate threats require urgent action. After losing a major investor over flood risks, Bruno Jaspaert knew something had to change. His firm, DEEP C Industrial Zones, houses more than 150 factories across northern Vietnam. So it hired a consultancy to redesign flood resilience plans. Climate risk is becoming its own kind of market regulation, forcing businesses to plan better, build smarter, and adapt faster. 'If the whole world will decide it's a can go very fast,' said Jaspaert. When Typhoon Yagi hit last year, causing $1.6 billion (€1.4bn) in damage, knocking 0.15% off Vietnam's GDP and battering factories that produce nearly half the country's economic output, roads in DEEP C industrial parks stayed dry. Climate risks are no longer theoretical: If Vietnam doesn't take strong action to adapt to and reduce climate change, the country could lose 12–14.5% of its GDP each year by 2050, and up to one million people could fall into extreme poverty by 2030, according to the World Bank. Meanwhile, Vietnam is growing old before it gets rich. The country's 'golden population' window—when working-age people outnumber dependents—will close by 2039 and the labour force is projected to peak just three years later. That could shrink productivity and strain social services, especially since families—and women in particular—are the default caregivers, said Teerawichitchainan Bussarawan of the Centre for Family and Population Research at the National University of Singapore. Vietnam is racing to pre-empt the fallout by expanding access to preventive healthcare so older adults remain healthier and more independent. Gradually raising the retirement age and drawing more women into the formal workforce would help offset labour gaps and promote "healthy ageing,' Bussarawan said.
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China cuts ties with Czech president over meeting with Dalai Lama
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