Six years after a U.S. drone killed Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani, Iran named an anti-ship ballistic missile after him. This past weekend the IRGC said it fired the Qasem Basir for the first time in the six-month-plus war, claiming hits on U.S. ships (5 September) then a carrier and a destroyer (6 September). CENTCOM said every incoming missile was stopped. Firstpost carried the claim/counter-claim.

Specs as given: ~1,200 km range, ~500 kg manoeuvrable warhead, electro-optical/IR seeker that “opens” late—shape and heat, not GPS—so it is sold as hard to jam. Unveiled May 2025; Iran says it can beat Patriot and THAAD. The piece notes U.S. ships are thought to be standing farther out, with helicopters doing more Gulf escort work beyond Hormuz.

The author’s point is doubt as much as steel: no outsider can confirm a hit or a miss, and that uncertainty travels. Tehran says more is held back. The name in the air is the political payload.

Six years ago, an elite Iranian commander was killed far from home by an American drone, ordered by Donald Trump during his first term in the White House. Qasem Soleimani led the Quds Force, the wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that handles operations beyond Iran’s borders, and his death in 2020 pushed Tehran and Washington to the edge. Iran chose an unusual form of remembrance. It gave his name to a weapon. This past weekend, for the first time, that........

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