Congress has held numerous hearings on Iran, passed various resolutions regarding Iran and approved a range of sanctions against Iran over the past several decades. Iran: A Source of Global Political Concern

Iran is often a topic of discussion and a source of concern for many policymakers and experts in the national and international security community: "much of the debate over U.S. policy toward Iran has centered on the nature of the current regime; some believe that Iran … is a threat to U.S. interests because hardliners in Iran's regime dominate and set a policy direction intended to challenge U.S. influence and allies in the region." Clearly everybody in the Middle East recognizes it. In Iran's case, no major intelligence community has concluded that Iran has made the decision to develop a nuclear weapon. It is important to note that this report does not assess Iran's capabilities in the other two critical areas. At the other end of the spectrum, in 1990 the U.S. IC projection for MRBMs and ICBMs by 2000 did not transpire: 
Most missiles likely to be fielded in the Third World over the next 5 years will have ranges of less than 1,000 kilometers, but by the year 2000 at least six countries probably will have missiles with range of up to 3,000 kilometers. Iran also may be satisfied with an ICBM capability of lesser quality and reliability, it is argued. It is quite clear to them" when maneuvers are real and when Iran exercises with live weapons and are not simply exhibitions. Iran's Ballistic Missile and Space Launch Programs

Iran has been acquiring, developing and testing its ballistic missile capabilities for decades. What is striking is the degree to which there is an overwhelming amount of information written about Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, performance parameters, testing results, infrastructure and Iran's cooperation with others compared to the paucity of public detail about how many missiles Iran actually has. Dennis Blair, then Director of National Intelligence, said in his 2010 annual threat assessment report to Congress that 
Iran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East and it continues to expand the scale, reach and sophistication of its ballistic missile forces – many of which are inherently capable of carrying a nuclear payload….Tehran views its conventionally armed missiles as an integral part of its strategy to deter – and if necessary retaliate against – forces in the region. Iran's Ballistic Missile and Space Launch Complex

Unclassified government and other open-source materials indicate that Iran has an extensive ballistic missile and space launch complex scattered throughout the country. The Shahab-1 has a range estimated of about 300 km, while the Shahab-2, which carries a lighter conventional warhead, has a range estimated at about 500 km. Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs)

Iran has invested for several decades in an organized and well-planned effort to acquire, develop, test and deploy MRBMs capable of striking targets throughout the Middle East. No official numbers of MRBMs operationally deployed are provided by official U.S. government sources. U.S. and other intelligence reports indicate that Iran apparently has not made the decision to develop a nuclear weapon, but developments such as these cause concern among many decision makers and observers. Whether Iran acquired these missiles or their rocket motors in whole or part, or received other technical assistance regarding these missiles or their component parts is important. Since the late 1990s, the U.S. intelligence community has repeatedly stated, with a number of caveats, that Iran would be able to test an ICBM capable of reaching the United States by 2015, which is at least 10,000 km away. Other countries do not necessarily share this assessment and Iran has long denied that it is developing an ICBM capable of reaching the United States. Such a test did not occur in this time frame, but in 2010 the DIA assessed that, by 2015: 
with sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States. These assessments drive U.S. military efforts designed to respond to such threats, such as the U.S. BMD program in general and the U.S. missile defense system in Europe specifically, as well as U.S. diplomatic and other efforts such as sanctions to dissuade or slow down Iranian long-range ballistic missile programs. The Russians indicated they believed Iran 
was a long way from building intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit the United States.... Iran lacks appropriate structural materials for long-range systems.... Iran can build prototypes, but in order to be a threat to the U.S. or Russia, Iran needs to produce missiles in mass quantities, and it lacks materials sufficient for the type of mass production needed to be a security threat. Sub-orbital Launches

As part of a nation's space program, it is common to develop, test and launch a number of rockets into space for short durations to measure the effects of space and study its effects on animals in preparation for subsequent manned space flight. Although many of those articles are likely accurate, it is not entirely possible to sort them all out from those accounts that are not entirely accurate. As a result of this decades long effort, Iran is now considered to have become self-sufficient in major parts of its own ballistic missile programs, yet it is still apparently reliant on outside sources for some key missile components, especially for further development of its longer range ballistic missile program. Iran is using these goods and technologies to achieve its goal of becoming self-sufficient in the production of MRBMs. Although China has export control legislation that approximates MTCR controls, enforcement continues to fall short. Is slowing down Iran's ballistic missile and space launch programs, making them more difficult and expensive, and forcing Iran to find less reliable and capable alternatives an adequate solution for dealing with Iran? This appendix will be updated for future "Great Prophet" exercises.
Iran has long been a source of concern for the United States and other countries because its goals are at odds with core U.S. objectives in the Middle East. Although it is not certain that Iran has made the decision to develop a nuclear weapon, it is taking steps to drastically reduce the time needed to obtain nuclear weapons should a decision be made to do so. It is the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon mated to an effective missile delivery capability that is especially worrisome to most.
Congress has long been interested in these matters. Congress has held numerous hearings on Iran, passed various resolutions regarding Iran and approved a range of sanctions against Iran over the past several decades.
According to the U.S. government, Iran has the largest number of ballistic missiles in the Middle East; it is developing missiles and space launch vehicles for multiple purposes. Iran is pursuing its missile and space programs with development and testing facilities that are scattered throughout the country. Assessing Iran's ballistic missile programs is challenging for many reasons, including the lack of specificity in official public sources, the secretive nature of Iran's regime and the regime's frequent exaggerations of its ballistic missile capabilities, and the overwhelming amount of and often conflicting information found in non-official sources.
The vast majority of Iran's heavy artillery rockets and ballistic missiles are short-range of less than about 500 kilometers. Most of Iran's ballistic missiles in fact are Scud-B and Scud-Cs, with a majority likely being Scud Cs, which are 500 km range capable. Iran views its short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) capability as necessary for battlefield and tactical military purposes. These missiles could not strike U.S. or allied bases in the region unless they were moved far from their operating base and launched from vulnerable positions along Iran's Persian Gulf coastline. This is not likely because of logistical and operational security reasons. Although these SRBMs are not very accurate, they could be fired against economic or civilian targets. Also, any such missile attacks against U.S. bases, while not militarily decisive, could disrupt or complicate (but not halt) base operations.
Iran has grown increasingly self-sufficient in the production of SRBMs, but it still probably relies on others for some key components. Gaining access to these kinds of critical components and materials has grown increasingly difficult for Iran. Stricter international enforcement of export controls and broadening sanctions have reportedly slowed down Iran's efforts and forced Iran to find less reliable alternative sources of rocket and missile technology.
Iran is developing and producing medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) capabilities with ranges estimated up to about 2,000 kilometers (with some non-U.S. government sources citing slightly higher ranges), sufficient to strike targets throughout the Middle East. U.S. intelligence assessments state such missiles are inherently capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Although the number of Iran's MRBMs is thought to be relatively small by official U.S. estimates, it is expected to continue to build more capable MRBMs. Iran views these missiles as an important deterrent and retaliatory force against U.S. and other forces in the region in the event of war. Iran has also constructed an underground network of bunkers and underground silo-like missile launch facilities, and is seeking improved air defenses presumably to enhance the survivability of their MRBMs against preemptive attack.
Currently Iran must rely on others for certain key missile components and materials in its MRBM program. Export controls and sanctions have made it increasingly difficult, but certainly not impossible, for Iran to acquire the best of such items. On the other hand, these export control measures and sanctions have forced Iran to try to exploit weaknesses in existing export and nonproliferation regimes, including by trying to find foreign sellers willing to circumvent those laws.
Iran also has a genuine and ambitious space launch program, which seeks to enhance Iran's national pride, and perhaps more importantly, its international reputation as a growing advanced industrial power. Iran also sees itself as a potential leader in the Middle East offering space launch and satellite services. Iran has stated it plans to use future launchers for placing intelligence gathering satellites into orbit, although such a capability is a decade or so in the future. Many believe Iran's space launch program could mask the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – with ranges in excess of 5,500 km that could threaten targets throughout Europe, and even the United States if Iran achieved an ICBM capability of at least 10,000 km. ICBMs share many similar technologies and processes inherent in a space launch program, but it seems clear that Iran has a dedicated space launch effort and it is not simply a cover for ICBM development. Since 1999, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has assessed that Iran could test an ICBM by 2015 with sufficient foreign assistance, especially from a country such as China or Russia (whose support has reportedly diminished over the past decade). It is increasingly uncertain whether Iran will be able to achieve an ICBM capability by 2015 for several reasons: Iran does not appear to be receiving the degree of foreign support many believe would be necessary, Iran has found it increasingly difficult to acquire certain critical components and materials because of sanctions, and Iran has not demonstrated the kind of flight test program many view as necessary to produce an ICBM.
This report will be updated regularly.