Iran launched large-scale nighttime airstrikes against Israel last month. More than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles targeted the country.
The attack was quite large, but ineffective. According to U.S. and Israeli military spokesmen, 99% of projectiles fired at Israel failed to penetrate.
Israeli and American missile defenses, along with the support of other allies, including Jordan, functioned very effectively.
From North Korea to Iran
Israel's ballistic missile defense system may be the best in the world. However, of the approximately 120 ballistic missiles used by Iran, about 50% either failed to launch or crashed in flight.
Only half of Iran's ballistic missiles flew as intended, showing that these systems are far from well-designed. But success or failure, where did the Iranians get the technology to assemble these long-range ballistic missile systems? The answer is undoubtedly North Korea.
Based on photos and descriptions from the area, many of the missiles used in the attack were what Tehran calls “Emad.” This is an intermediate-range ballistic missile based on the Shahab-3, which is itself a copy of North Korea's Rodong missile. The Shahab-3 (Nodon) has a range of 1300-1500 kilometers, while the Emad has a reported range of around 1700 kilometers, allowing it to target Israel due to its longer range.
In 1993, North Korea conducted live Nodong tests against Iran and Pakistan. After the tests, both Tehran and Islamabad ordered dozens of these missiles and their launchers. Subsequently, at Tehran's request, North Korea built a production facility for Rodong, now called Shahab-3, in Iran. However, the Iranians still needed technical assistance and parts for the missiles they were currently producing at home.
North Korea's contribution
Once the Shahab-3 was integrated into Iran's ballistic missile force, Iran almost immediately began developing a longer-range follow-on missile based on the same design. Thus was born Emad, which Iran officially introduced in 2015 as a new long-range missile.
Iran claims that Emad was legally tested at a range of 1,700 kilometers, and the system shot down near the Dead Sea in Israel likely proves this to be true. Iranians also say Emad is far more accurate than other missiles in Tehran's arsenal. However, this has not been proven to be true.
Although the system is unique to Iran, there is little doubt that North Korea provided assistance in extending the missile's range. But even if it wasn't, Emad is just an improved version of his Shahab-3. The Shahab 3 is a copy of the original Rodong missile that North Korea proliferated to Iran, so this means that Iran carried out the April attack using a missile that could target Israel thanks to North Korea's assistance. means.
Why hasn't North Korea's obvious contribution to Iran's ability to attack Israel received more attention? I don't have an answer to that question. We've also seen some pretty inaccurate analyzes on this topic. For example, one prominent analyst said, “There is no evidence of exchange between North Korea and Iran over missile technology in recent years,'' and another said, “North Korea can help them out of a crisis.'' I think I'm in a good position.” Accuracy perspective. North Korea itself has significantly improved the accuracy of its ballistic missiles over the past decade and a half. ”
These assessments are clearly wrong. In fact, North Korea has been collaborating with Iran in recent years to develop missile rocket boosters with 80 tons of thrust. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iran for this activity in 2016, but ongoing North Korean-Iranian cooperation was documented by the United Nations Panel of Experts in 2021. The Hwasong-15 missile has this capability.
There are two important concerns here. First, proliferation risks remain high because no sanctions have been imposed or steps have been taken to significantly slow North Korea's military proliferation. We have seen North Korean rockets, artillery, and ballistic missiles used by the Russians. Anti-tank weapons, rockets and tunnel-building capabilities handed over by North Korea have been used by Hamas over the past six months. We now see that North Korea's ballistic missile technology and capabilities are being used by Iran to target Israel.
A second concern is that Iran might upgrade its systems. North Korea has been testing solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missiles in recent months. Moreover, not only does North Korea possess a highly accurate copy of Russia's Iskander, but it has also spread dozens of these systems into Russia itself for use against Ukraine. Iskander is a short-range ballistic missile, so it would need to be much closer to Israel to be launched by Iranian forces or used by Iranian proxies. These and other possible increases in Iran's ballistic missile force would greatly amplify the threat from Tehran. “If you see it in North Korea today, you will see it in Iran tomorrow,” Israeli missile expert Tal Inbar said.・Mr. Inbal says:
North Korea has been selling systems to Iran since the 1980s. This situation has not stopped yet and is unlikely to change in the future. Without sharp and decisive action against North Korea's support for Iran and its proxies, there may be more instances of North Korean proliferation to Iran in the future.
About the author
Dr. Bruce E. Bechtle Jr. He is a professor of political science at Angelo State University. He is also president of the International Council for Korean Studies and a fellow of the Institute for Korean American Studies. The author of five books dealing with North Korea, his latest work is titled: North Korean military proliferation in the Middle East and Africa.
All images are from KCNA/North Korea state media.
