The origins and program efforts surrounding the so-called "Tamouz" missile remain unclear to date. It appears that sometime in early 1988, Director of the Military Industrialization Commission Hussein Kamil demanded rapid progress on a delivery system with a greater range than that obtained by the Al-Hussein.

Accordingly, in the summer of 1988, engineers from Project 144 conducted a study of a system comprising an Al-Hussein first stage and a Volga/SA-2 second stage. The performance targets were a 2000km range capability with a 200kg plus payload.

Iraqi experts report that they were unsure as to the strategic rationale for the system; many believed that Hussein Kamil wanted to display the missile simply for prestige purposes.

In any event, engineers state that they did not spend much effort beyond the paper study. In 1989, a mock-up was built so Project 144 could prove to Hussein Kamil that they were making "progress." Some engineers remained convinced that the concept was feasible, although Gen. Amer Al Saadi—Huseein Kamil's deputy—was never enamored with the design.

	Updated October 2003