Teheran admits to acquiring North Korean weapons

The commander-in-chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said yesterday that Scud missiles used during the Iraq war had been bought from Pyongyang, adding that Iran could now supply missile technology to friendly countries.

Teheran (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Iranian government "bought ballistic Scud missiles from North Korea during the war against Iraq" and now "is able to provide its missile system to friendly nations that need it".

This was revealed yesterday by Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander-in-chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who thus admitted for the first time ever to having acquired war weapons from other nations during the Iraqi conflict that stretched from 1980 to 1988.

Safavi said: "Teheran bought Scud B and C missiles from Pyongyang. Now we have ours, with a 2,000km-range, which could put American and Israeli interests in the Gulf in danger. These could be given to friendly nations."

The latest statement is of concern to the international community, which after the recent nuclear test conducted by North Korea, is exerting pressure so that no state will give the Stalinist regime technology to launch nuclear warheads.

Iran experimented yesterday with its Shahab missiles during military exercises set to last for 10 days. According to some US military analysts, these bombs "are simply copies of the Korean ones, because Iran is not capable of producing ballistic missiles alone."

• IRAN
• –
• NORTH
• KOREA
• arms
• missiles
• technology
• threat
• test
• nuclear
• war