October 25, 2020
North Korea, China and Iran: The Axis of Missiles?
The long-term arms sales relationship between North Korea and Iran has been ongoing and well known since the early 1980s. But now it appears that this relationship will also involve China.
by Bruce E. Bechtol
As some of you reading this piece may remember, in a piece I published with the National Interest back in May of this year, I addressed January 7, 2020, Iranian launching of ballistic missiles at American bases located in Iraq. As I addressed in the article, one set of the missiles launched were in the “Qiam†series, missiles based on the North Korean built (and proliferated to Iran) Scud C system. While this was only the latest example of North Korean assistance that ended up in Iranian combat systems and targeting American or allied forces, it does remind one of the many poorly informed analysts who have repeatedly (and incorrectly) claimed that North Korean proliferation “declined†after its “heyday†in the 1980s and 1990s. This is unambiguously incorrect. In fact, the threat from Tehran is very real and is exacerbated by the presence of North Korean advisors and technicians in Iran today – a presence that never stopped and shows no signs of ending.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-watch/north-korea-china-and-iran-axis-missiles-171367
