Iran has reverse-engineered, deployed nuke-capable cruise missiles  from Ukraine

Teheran received 12 long-range Kh-55 cruise missiles from Ukraine in  2001 and has since enhanced the missiles and deployed them in the  military, a leading Iranian opposition source said. Alireza Jafarzadeh, former chief of the National Council of  Resistance of Iran and president of the Washington-based Strategic  Policy Consulting Inc., said Iran has acquired a nuclear-capable  missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers. At an Aug. 26 briefing in  Washington, Jafarzadeh said the missile could threaten cities in most  of Europe. The U.S. intelligence community has found Jafarzadeh to have highly credible information on Iran's missile and nuclear weapons programs. "Four years after receiving the cruise missiles from Ukraine, the  Iranian regime has now mastered the technology through a reverse  engineering process," Jafarzadeh said. "In a meeting of the regime's  Supreme National Security  Council, Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani  declared that by acquiring this 3,000-kilometer-range missile with  nuclear warhead capability, the Iranian regime is able to threaten  European countries."

In January 2005, Ukraine acknowledged that it sold Kh-55 cruise  missiles to Iran. At the time, Kiev said the missiles were inoperable. In his briefing, Jafarzadeh said the Kh-55s were delivered to the  Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which reconstructed the missiles  and transferred them to secret centers. "As of right now, these missiles constitute a portion of IRGC's  missile capability," Jafarzadeh said. Jafarzadeh said two of the Kh-55s were delivered to the Parchin  military complex in Teheran for reverse engineering. Another two were  delivered to the so-called cruise center, a division of the Defense  Ministry. The center includes engineers trained in China, France,  Germany, North Korea and Russia. "Based on most recent reports, during the past four years, the  experts from cruise research division have been able to rebuild the  pieces of these missiles," Jafarzadeh said. "The Iranian regime has  gained knowledge and access to this missile's technology." Jafarzadeh said Teheran was in the last stages of reproducing the  cruise missile, designed to escape enemy air defenses. "Strengthening the missile system has been a pivotal part of the mullah regime's military strategy," Jafarzadeh said. In light of  Iran's nuclear weapons program, its advanced missile technology and  the progress it has made in a nuclear capable missile is  most  threatening."