A Pentagon report released last Thursday indicates that Iran could have ballistic missiles capable of hitting the U.S. as early as 2015. The analysis – driven by intelligence regarding North Korean, Chinese, and Russian assistance to the Islamic republic – constitutes a reassesment of previous, more skeptical U.S. assessments:
A Pentagon report released on Thursday (April 25) says Iran may be able to flight-test a ballistic missile capable of striking the United States by 2015.With the help of countries such as like North Korea, China or Russia, the Tehran regime could be capable of developing and testing ICBM-class missiles based with liquid propellants… The report contradicts assessments made in 2012 that doubted Iran’s ability to be so advanced in 2015. The earlier skepticism was in part fueled by Tehran’s setback in 2011 when 21 people were killed in an explosion during a test, including Hasan Tehrani Moghaddam, the man in charge of Iran’s missile program.
The report also notes that Iranian misisles are being designed with an eye on delivering nuclear weapons:
An unclassified portion of the “Annual Report on Military Power of Iran,” dated January 2013 and made available by the Pentagon today, also states that Iran is continuing to develop both the “technological capabilities applicable to nuclear weapons” and “ballistic missiles that could be adapted to deliver nuclear weapons.”… The Defense Department adds that Iran “continues to develop technological capabilities applicable to nuclear weapons” and is “proceeding with uranium enrichment and heavy-water nuclear reactor activities in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
In September Iran and North Korea signed a cooperation pact aimed according to analysts at “advanc[ing] the nuclear and missile programs of both countries.” North Korea has already supplied Iran with components to build missiles, including for the Islamic republic’s Shahab-3 missile. The Shahab-3 is based on the North Korean No Dong-1 and is considered,/a> “uniquely suited to deliver a nuclear bomb to Israel.”
Iran has been so deeply involved in North Korea’s missile and nuclear work that experts describe North Korean weapons development tests as functionally Iranian tests. Earlier this year North Korea conducted its third nuclear missile test, triggering immediate expert fears that the test was conducted on behalf of Iran.
[Photo: sajed.ir / Wiki Commons]
