It's among the most alarming claims contained in the WikiLeaks archive of purloined U.S. diplomatic cables: North Korea secretly provided far-flying missiles to Iran. But it may not be true.
A State Department cable from February 2010 references a belief by U.S. spies that North Korea gave the Iranians 19 BM-25s, a missile modified from a Russian design with a range of 2,000 miles.
If true, it would vastly expand Iran's missile capabilities and raise questions about the U.S.'s ability to detect and prevent illicit weapons transfers between hostile states. But missile experts interviewed by the* Washington Post *cast doubt on both the transfer and several key details contained within the document.
The source for the claim of the missile deal is a German newspaper story from 2005 that cites German intelligence officials' assertion that Tehran bought "18 kits" of BM-25 missile components from Pyongyang. "The U.S. side does not firmly say we have evidence that the BM-25 is in Iran," the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Michael Elleman tells the Post.
A "senior U.S. intelligence official" added that while there may have been a transfer of missile components between the two rogue states, "sale of such an actual missile does not fully check out."
That's not all. The evidence that the baby-bottle-shaped BM-25 "Musudan" missile exists come from photos of an October military parade in Pyongyang. But those photos look like mock-ups, say the Post's experts, and there's no evidence that the North Koreans have ever tested the missile, let alone the Iranians.
(Danger Room pal Jeffrey Lewis has been calling foul on bogus pictures of North Korean BM-25s since 2007.)
None of which is to say that Iran isn't out to procure dangerous weapons. Other WikiLeaked cables make extensive reference to "a network of Iranian-controlled front companies" that purchase component systems for missiles and other weapons all around the world.
But, writes the Post, the seemingly-dubious account of a BM-25 transfer "illustrates how such documents -- based on one meeting or a single source -- can muddy an issue as much as it can clarify it."
Photo: Wikimedia
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