North Korean Technology Drives Iran’s Missile Arsenal in Escalating Conflict

Iran’s sophisticated missile system, which recently targeted the U.S. base at Diego Garcia, was developed with crucial assistance from North Korea, according to a leading expert on the strategic alliance between the two nations.

“The missile launched at Diego Garcia was a Musudan. The Iranians bought 19 of these from the North Koreans and took delivery in 2005. They have had this capability since 2005 — and this is no ‘secret weapon,'” explained Bruce Bechtol, co-author of “Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership Between Iran and North Korea.”

The Iranian regime significantly escalated tensions last week when it launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles toward Diego Garcia, located approximately 2,500 miles from Iran. This marked a significant expansion of the ongoing conflict between Iran and the joint U.S.-Israeli forces, now in its fifth week.

Bechtol, a professor of political science in the Department of Security Studies at Angelo State University in Texas, emphasized that ballistic missiles have become Iran’s most critical weapon in the evolving conflict. These missiles have targeted not only U.S. military facilities and Israeli cities but also neighboring Islamic countries.

“The short-range ballistic missiles that Iran has launched at key U.S. facilities and at neighboring Arab states include a key system – the ‘QIAM.’ The QIAM was developed and improved with North Korean assistance,” Bechtol noted. “North Korea has proliferated a lot to Iran that we are seeing right now in the war.”

The relationship between the two U.S.-designated state sponsors of terrorism has been extensive. According to the Wisconsin Project cited by Bechtol, North Korea constructed a large missile test facility at Emamshahr in Iran’s Fars Province and a tracking facility at Tabas in South Khorasan province.

The technical collaboration between the two nations dates back decades. “The North Koreans proliferated around 150 No Dong systems to Iran in the late 1990s,” Bechtol explained. “The Iranians were apparently very happy with the missiles the North Koreans provided them, and, following the earlier precedent of the Scud C factory, contracted with Pyongyang to build a No Dong facility in Iran.”

These imported missiles became the foundation for Iran’s domestic missile program. “The Iranians called this ‘new’ missile the Shahab-3. The Shahab-3 is almost an exact copy of the No Dong,” Bechtol said.

With continued North Korean assistance, Iran subsequently produced more advanced systems with greater range and lethality. “With assistance from the North Koreans, the Iranians were then able to produce the Emad and the Ghadr. The Emad has a range of 1,750 kilometers (approx 1,087 miles) and the Ghadr has a range of 1,950 kilometers (approximately 1,212 miles),” Bechtol detailed.

These medium-range systems have been deployed against both Israel and Arab neighbors hosting U.S. military bases during the current conflict. Even more concerning is the Khorramshahr-4 system, which Bechtol described as “more lethal” than previous models and capable of carrying a significantly larger warhead with what appears to be cluster munitions.

The relationship between the two countries follows a simple but effective pattern. “North Korea is the seller and Iran is the buyer,” Bechtol explained. “North Korea proliferates weapons systems, technology, parts and components, technicians, engineers and specialists and military capabilities (such as the building of underground facilities) to Iran. Iran pays North Korea with cash and oil. Simple as that.”

This arms pipeline presents a significant challenge to regional security and international non-proliferation efforts. According to Bechtol, the most effective way to disrupt this collaboration is through vigorous enforcement of existing sanctions against North Korea.

“The sanctions that are needed are already on the books. But the USA and our key allies need to robustly enforce them,” he said. “We need to go after banks, front companies and cyber entities in order to squeeze the money and contain or destroy the supply chain.”

Bechtol emphasized the importance of leveraging the Proliferation Security Initiative, which he described as “an underused aspect of preventing North Korea’s arms from flowing to rogue nations and terrorist groups.” His assessment was clear: “If you cut off the supply chain, you cut off the proliferation.”

As the conflict intensifies, understanding the origins and capabilities of Iran’s missile arsenal becomes increasingly important for formulating effective defensive and diplomatic responses in the region.