NTI: Country Overviews: Iran: Missile Import/Export

Missile Imports

Year/Date	Exporter	Item(s)	Remarks
1975	USA	3,400 TOW missiles
May 1979	USA	274 Phoenix missiles
July 1979	USA	37 improved Hawk missiles
Late 1979-1980	USA	9,717 Dragons, 14 Harpoons, 1,442 Hawks, 2,500 Mavericks, 424 Phoenix, 288 Sidewinders, 516 Sparrows, 128 Standards, and 19,064 TOWs
1980s	China	130 HQ-2 surface-to-air missiles
1980s	Libya	30 Scud-B missiles with a range of 300km
1980-1989	China	100 HY-2 Silkworm anti-ship missiles
1983		12 HAWK and MIM-23B improved HAWK missile batteries
1983	Syria	Multiple-rocket launchers (MRL)
1983	Libya	Surface-to-air missiles (SAM)
1984-1986	US company Aero Systems Inc. of Miami	Missile and fighter parts
1985-1988	North Korea	Around 100 Scud-B missiles
1985	USSR	Unknown number of Scud-B missiles	USSR indirectly provides missiles to Iran through Libya and Syria.
1985	Libya and Syria	Scud-B missiles
Jan.-Feb. 1985	Libya	Two Scud-B transporter-erector launchers (TELs) and approximately 20 missiles
April 1985	Libya	Scud-B missiles	Libya provides Scud-Bs to Iran for use in Iraq-Iran War.
August 1985	Israel	508 TOW missiles
September 1985	China	40 upgraded versions of the Soviet Scuds
November 1985	Israel	18 Hawk anti-aircraft missiles	These missiles later returned to Israel in 1986.
1986	China	Silkworm anti-ship missiles
1986	USA	2,008 TOW missiles and 240 Hawk air-defense missiles
1986	Syria	Scud-B missiles
1986	Soviet Union	SAM-7 missiles
1986	China	Several HY-2 Silkworm anti-ship missile batteries
Early 1986	China	PL7	PL7s are long-range, air-to-air missiles that can hit targets at up to 10km.
May 1986	France	Shells
1986-1987	China	2,500 PL2 and Pl2A missiles	These missiles are believed to be similar to US-made Sidewinder.
Late 1986	Libya	Scud-B missiles
1987-1988	North Korea	100 North Korean Scud-B missiles with the range of 320km
1987-1992	North Korea	200-300 Scud-B missiles
September 1987	Afghan resistance	16 missiles
December 1987	China	100 C-801 anti-ship missiles, SS-801 anti-ship missile
Early 1988	North Korea	40 Scud-B missiles	These missiles may have been part of a June 1987 purchase rather than an additional purchase.
1988	China	At least 96 HY-2 Silkworm anti-ship cruise missiles
1988	China and North Korea	80 HY-2 Silkworm and 40 Scud-B missiles
1990s	North Korea Corporation Bureau	Hwasong-6 missiles
Early 1990	North Korea	20 Scud-B missiles
1990	North Korea	170 Scud-B missiles
1990	China	130-150km-range CSS-8 (converted SA-2) surface-to-surface missiles
1991	Bulgaria	2,000 surface-to-air missile (SAM) launching pads
1991	North Korea	Scud-C missiles
1991	Japan Aviation Electronics (JAE)	Gyroscopes
March 1991	North Korea	24 Scud-C missiles
July 1991	Soviet Union	MiG-29 fighter planes, tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, and other equipment
September 1991	North Korea	300 Scud-B missiles
October-November 1991	North Korea	170 Scud missiles
1992	North Korea	Scud-C missiles
February 1992	North Korea	Scud-B missiles
March 1992	North Korea	20 Scud canisters
May 1992	North Korea	Missile production equipment
May 1992	North Korea	Silkworm anti-ship missiles
May 1992	North Korea	150 Scud-D missiles
June 1992	China	M-11 missiles, 90 CSS-8s, short-range, surface-to-surface missiles with anti-ship capability, missile guidance technology
June 1992	North Korea	Nodong-1 missile
November 1992	North Korea	220 Scud missiles and a few early model Nodong missiles
November 1992	Russia	SA-16 surface-to-air missiles
November 1992	Russia	SA-5 surface-to-air missile
End of 1992	Russia, China	800 Russian Scud missiles and 200 Chinese Silkworm missiles
1992-1994	North Korea	150 Scud-C missiles
1993	Russia	Unspecified number of Scud-C missiles and launchers
1993	Russia	10 Nodong-2 surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 1300-1500km
April 1993	Libya	Design of the Al-fatah intermediate-range surface-to-surface missile
April 1993	China	Missile components
May 1993	Ukraine	Eight Sunburst cruise missiles
November 1993	China	SS-2 missiles
1994	China	20 M-7 missiles
1994	North Korea	925km-range ballistic missiles
1994	Russia	94 air-to-air missiles and launchers
January 1994	North Korea	Unknown number of Scud-B missiles
January 1994	China	Unknown number of Silkworm M-11 missiles
April 1994	North Korea	Scud-B missiles
Mid to late 1994	North Korea	Nodong missiles and components
October 1994	China	20 CSS-8 surface to surface missiles
Late 1994, early 1995	North Korea	4 or more Hwasong-6 (Scud-C) transporter-erector launchers (TELs)
Mid-1990s	China	About 125 C-802 cruise missiles
Early 1995	North Korea	At least 12 Nodong-1 missiles
Early 1995	North Korea	At least 4 Scud transporter-erector launchers (TELs)
1995	North Korea	4 Scud transporter-erector launchers (TELs)
June 1995	North Korea	20 Nodong-1 missiles and eight transporter-erector launchers (TELs)
June 1995	China	Computerized machine tools and missile guidance systems
June 1995	Azerbaijan	6 Kub air defense missile launchers
1996	Swiss firms Roboform, Robofill, and AGIE	Missile equipment necessary for liquid-propellant rocket motor and electro-erosion
1996	North Korea	12 Nodong missiles
1997	Russia’s State Scientific Research Institute of Grafit (NII Grafit)	4,100kg of basalt prepreg
1997	China	10 Hegu-class destroyers equipped with S-802 missiles, 400 Silkworm and Seersucker missiles	S-802 are surface-to-surface missiles with a range of more than 120km.
May 1997	China	C-802 cruise missiles
September 1997	Russian firm INOR	Maraging steel for missile cases, 240kg of the alloy, laser equipment, special mirrors for missile tests, and composite graphite-tungsten material
1999 and 2000	Japan (Seishin Enterprise Corporation)	Grinders, used in making solid fuel for rockets	Seishin was charged for allegedly exporting illegal equipment to Iran
1999	North Korea	12 medium-range ballistic missile engines
1999	North Korea	20 Nodong engines
1999	North Korea	Scud-B missiles
April 1999	France (Microturbo, SA)	Missile components
2000	North Korea	12 medium-range ballistic missile engines
2000	North Korea	400 Scud-type missiles
2000	Russia	Missile components
2000	North Korea	Intermediate- and long-range missiles such as the Nodong and Taepodong-1 (Pakistan-1)
June 2000	China	Materials for the development of solid rocket fuels and for building a plant to manufacture the NP-110 missile engine and missile components for development of medium-range missiles
June 2000	North Korea	Nodong ballistic missiles with a range of about 1000km and the Taepodong ballistic missiles with a range of about 1500km
August 2000	North Korea	Unknown number of rockets
2001	China (Ch'anggwang Shinyoung Corporation)	Unspecified missile technology	In 2003, the US imposed sanctions on the company for illegally exporting technology to Iran
March 2001	North Korea	Rocket motors and missile airframes
June 2001	North Korea	At least four ballistic missile launchers	CIA reports that Iran bought at least four ballistic missile launchers to improve its launching capability.
January 2002	China	HQ-7 surface-to-air missiles	The HQ-7 has a range of eight nautical miles and it also has an advanced guidance system.
February 2002	China	Equipment, technology, and expertise for ballistic missile production
19 February 2002	Russia	Ballistic missile technology
20 February 2002	North Korea	Unspecified missiles and related technology to Iran	Alleged by Israel’s Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies
8 March 2002	North Korea and Pakistan	Technology that can increase the range of Scud missiles by “clustering engines and adding extra stages to the rocket”	Alleged by U.S. intelligence sources
20 March 2002	North Korea	Gunboats that Iran will use for guided-missile warships	Alleged by U.S. intelligence sources
17 May 2002	China	High-Speed C-14 missile patrol gunboats	According to defense intelligence officials, these gunboats can carry up to eight C-701 anti-ship cruise missiles each
24 May 2002	Russia	S-200 missile air defense systems
10 October 2002	North Korea	Unspecified missiles
11 October 2002	Russia	New motors for high-grade steel and special alloys for the Shehab-4 missile	Unconfirmed; alleged by the Daily Telegraph
March 2003	South Africa (African Amines, a subsidiary of the South African oil from Coal Company (SASOL))	120 metric tons of dimethylamine	Note: Dimethylamine can be used as a precursor for missile fuel. Dimethylamine also possesses a wide range of legitimate commercial uses including the production of detergents and pharmaceuticals
2002-2004	Germany (Company Tira)	Rocket building technology

Key Sources: The US Defense Security Assistance Agency; The Sunday Times (London); Anthony H. Cordesman; Middle East Military Balance, 1993-1994; Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr.; Adel Darwish; Jane's Defense Weekly; Washigton Times; The Jerusalem Post; The New York Times; Iran National News Agency (IRNA), (Tehran); Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo); The Jerusalem Post; Haaretz (Tel Aviv); Ann Tibbitts Schulz; Associated Press; Aviation Week & Space Technology; Jane’s Intelligence Review; Al-Wasat (London), The Los Angeles Time; W. Seth Carus; Kenneth R. Timmerman; Korean Central News Agency; Jane's Foreign Report; The Toronto Star; The Wall Street Journal; Iran Brief; The Christian Science Monitor; The Independent; Bill Gertz; Sawt Al-Kuwayt Al-Duwali (London); The Nonproliferation Review, Center for Nonproliferation Studies; Tehran Times (Tehran); MERIA Journal; Jane's Navy International; Jane's Missiles & Rockets; British Broadcasting Corporation; Center for Strategic and International Studies; Middle East Newsline; Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Tehran); Arms Control Today; Korea Herald; Jiji Press; Daily Telegraph; Mail and Guardian Online; Yonhap; Khaleej Times; AFX Asia; Financial Times.


Hidayet Ozgur	Updated December 2005

	Import Table by Date
	Import Tables by Country

	Export Table by Date

	Maps
	WMD411: U.S. and Hostile Powers: Iran
	Issue Brief: IAEA Board Welcomes EU-Iran Agreement: Is Iran Providing Assurances or Merely Providing Amusement?
	Issue Brief: IAEA Board Deplores Iran's Failue to Come into Full Compliance: Is Patience with Iran Running Out?
	Issue Brief: Iran and the IAEA: A Troubling Past with a Hopeful Future?
	Issue Brief: The Second NPT PrepCom for the 2005 Review Conference
	Issue Brief: WMD in the Middle East
	Treaties and Organizations
	NIE: Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities (2007)
	CRS: Iran’s Nuclear Program: Recent Developments (2007)
	In Focus: IAEA and Iran
	FAS: Iran Special Weapons Guide
	Survival: Assessing Iran's Nuclear Programme (2006)
	The Role of WMD in Iranian Security Calculations (2004)
	Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions (2004)
	Iran's Nuclear Facilities: A Profile (1998)
	Iran and CBW (1998)

Search for: Enter query terms separated by spaces.

Match:

Search in: Select any one of the following databases and archives or search any combination.
Click here for more details.

	Entire Web Site
	Global Security Newswire
	Country Profiles
	WMD 411
	Issue Briefs & Analysis
	Securing the Bomb
	NTI Press Room
	Source Documents
	HEU Reduction and Elimination Database
	Submarine Proliferation Database
	Russian Language Resources
	NIS Nuclear and Missile Database
	NIS Nuclear Trafficking Database

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by MIIS.

HOME | CONTACT US | GET INVOLVED | SITE MAP