Iran Denies Report of N. Korea Missile Aid
Iran's Long-Range Missiles
Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images
Iranian soldiers of the Revolutionary Guards pose next to a long-range surface-to-surface Shahab-3 missile in a main square outside the parliament building in southern Tehran on September 23, 2010.
Iranian soldiers of the Revolutionary Guards pose next to a long-range surface-to-surface Shahab-3 missile in a main square outside the parliament building in southern Tehran on September 23, 2010. Photographer: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images
Evidence that North Korea aided Iran’s ballistic missile program in violation of United Nations sanctions is fabricated, the government in Tehran said as the U.S. and Britain sought steps to halt the technology transfers.
A confidential report by a United Nations panel of experts, submitted to the Security Council, said that “prohibited ballistic missile-related items are suspected to have been transported between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran on regular scheduled flights of Air Koryo and Iran Air.”
An Iranian government spokesman denied that Iran and North Korea have been secretly exchanging ballistic missile technology.
“This is propaganda and we believe that certain goals are pursued by spreading such news,” Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in televised comments today. He added that Iran doesn’t need know-how or parts from other countries.
North Korea has used sophisticated networks of shell companies, front companies and aliases to mask its activities.
North Korea “has been actively engaged in the export of complete systems, components and technology to numerous customers” in the Middle East and South Asia, according to the UN report reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Efforts Failed
The allegations come as international efforts have failed to stop North Korea from building nuclear weapons and exporting technology for nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles needed to deliver them. North Korea has flaunted UN resolutions that ban the import and export of a variety of conventional and atomic weapons, as well as the luxury goods the Communist regime uses to please its scientists and leaders as the rest of the isolated country faces famine.
The report hasn’t been officially released because China is “studying it,” Ambassador Li Baodong said after the UN Security Council completed talks today in New York on implementation of the sanctions imposed on North Korea.
The U.S., Britain, Germany and India pressed to implement recommendations of the report, including closing loopholes on shipping and transportation controls and combating North Korea’s use of shell and front companies and aliases to mask individuals and entities previously targeted for sanctions.
Syria, Iran Connections
The report noted that a North Korean missile recently on display in a military parade there resembled Iran’s Shahab-3. It also confirmed allegations that a Syrian site destroyed by Israeli aircraft in 2007 was a North Korean-built nuclear reactor, and that North Korea had helped Syria develop medium range surface-to-surface missiles.
Iran has long rejected allegations by the U.S. and its allies that its nuclear activities are a cover for the development of atomic weapons. Iran’s government says its nuclear program is for civilian applications and aimed at securing energy for its growing population.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net. Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva in Washington at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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