 They also said that the American CIA had allowed the deal to go through as long as the missiles were modified to not be able to carry nuclear warheads.Saudi Arabia had previously secretly acquired Chinese DF-3A ballistic missiles in 1988, which was publicly revealed.While the DF-3 has a longer range, it was designed to carry a nuclear payload, and so had poor accuracy (0.6-2.4 miles (1000–4000 m) CEP) if used with a conventional warhead.