[19] A number of countries were reported to have shown interest in purchasing the export version of Iskander, but such possibility was only announced in early February 2017.

[16] The United States has argued that the 9M728/9M729 (SSC-X-7/SSC-X-8) cruise missiles used by Iskander-K violates the INF Treaty because their estimated range is beyond 500 kilometres (270 nmi; 310 mi).

Targets can be located not only by satellite and aircraft but also by a conventional intelligence center, by an artillery observer, or from aerial photos scanned into a computer.

[11] Another unique feature of Iskander-M [22] is the optically guided warhead, which can also be controlled by encrypted radio transmission, including such as those from AWACS or UAV.

Boost phase thrust vector control (TVC) is accomplished by graphite vanes similar in layout to the V-2 and Scud series tactical ballistic missiles.

According to Russian claims, the area of destruction from a single warhead is 25,000 square meters, or about two football fields and the accuracy of the missile allows it to hit targets the size of a small window from a range of several tens of kilometers.

[45][46] Russian Foreign Ministry officials declared the right to deploy nuclear weapons in the peninsula, which is generally recognized as part of Ukraine, in December 2014[47] and June 2015.

[50] According to a Fox News report in early February 2017, four Iskander missiles had been fired at opposition targets in the Idlib province in Syria.

[53] In March 2023, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat reported that Ukraine was unable to shoot down Iskander ballistic missiles.

[55] On 5 March 2024, it was confirmed that a M142 HIMARS was destroyed by an Iskander ballistic missile near Nykanorivka, in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.

[56] On 9 March 2024, it was confirmed that an Iskander ballistic missile was used to destroy two German-supplied M901 launchers for the MIM-104 Patriot air defence system near Pokrovsk.

[65] According to Russian unofficial media reports, Russia deployed Iskander missiles to the Kaliningrad Oblast as part of military exercises in March 2015.

[68][69] Days prior, the local military commanders said that the "park zones" for Iskander missiles deployment had been completed in the Kaliningrad region, as well as in North Ossetia.

According to unconfirmed claims by ex-president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, the missiles were fired on the town of Shushi after its capture by Azerbaijani forces in the last days of the war.

[74] Another claim was made by an anonymous Azerbaijani official that Armenian forces fired an Iskander missile at Azerbaijan's capital Baku in the last days of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, but it was shot down by an Israeli-made Barak 8.

The director of the state corporation Rostec Sergey Chemezov commented that the Iskander missile complex is a serious offensive weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

[86] In 2016, Armenia, a Russian ally and a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) became the first foreign country to operate the system.

Iskander-E has a maximum range up to 280 km, to comply with Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions for export,[87] and is fitted with a simplified inertial guidance system.

It flies on a flattened trajectory under 50 km altitude, allowing aerodynamic steering using tail fins, permitting a less predictable flight path and accurate delivery.