Pentagon officials believe North Korea is helping Iran develop nuclear missile technology

(VERO BEACH, FL) According to U.S. defense officials Tehran’s recent failed attempt to launch a Jask-2 cruise missile from an underwater “midget” submarine stems from a continuing exchange of military technology between North Korea and Iran.

Regarding the Yono-class submarine Iran used for their failed launch, pentagon officials told Fox News that the vessel was based on the same design as the sub North Korea utilized in the sinking of the a South Korean warship, ROKS Cheonan, in 2010.

Jeffrey Lewis, a missile proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, claims Iran has also been copying the designs of North Korean ballistic missiles.

“The very first missiles we saw in Iran were simply copies of North Korean missiles,” Lewis told Fox. “Over the years, we’ve seen photographs of North Korean and Iranian officials in each other’s countries, and we’ve seen all kinds of common hardware.”

“In the past, we would see things in North Korea and they would show up in Iran,” Lewis continued. “In some recent years, we’ve seen some small things appear in Iran first and then show up in North Korea and so that raises the question of whether trade — which started off as North Korea to Iran — has started to reverse.”

Pentagon officials believe these trades include North Korea’s Musudan and Taepodong ballistic missiles, which are “almost identical” to the design of Iran’s Shahab missile.

In July 2016, two days before the anniversary of Obama’s nuclear agreement between Iran and the West, Tehran attempted to launch a version of North Korea’s BM-25 Musudan ballistic missile, according to multiple intelligence officials.

The Musudan ballistic missile has a maximum range of approximately 2,500 miles, potentially placing U.S. assets as far away as Alaska and Iraq in the weapons cross hairs.

“The extent of North Korea’s involvement in the failed launch was never clear, apart from North Korea sharing their technology,” officials told Fox.

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