Iran delays missile test due to row with N. Korea over parts delivery

SEOUL, Dec. 6 Kyodo - Iran has decided to postpone the test launch of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile apparently due to problems with the delivery of components ordered from North Korea, a Western diplomatic source said Sunday.

Tehran has told Pyongyang that electronic parts for improving the missile's
accuracy have yet to arrive from North Korea, known as a key supplier of
missile technology to the Middle Eastern country, and the problem has become a
source of friction between the two countries, the source said.
North Korea claims it shipped the components in 10 Iran-bound containers that
were seized in the United Arab Emirates in July from an Australian cargo ship.
Iran suspects the components were not actually in the containers, according to
the source.
Another source in East Asia with knowledge of the content of the cargo said
there were no components that could be used for ballistic missiles in any of
the containers, noting that only ''conventional weapons were found.''
The incident has led some diplomatic experts to speculate that North Korea is
facing difficulties in producing missile components due to sanctions imposed
under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
They said, however, it could also be a sign that North Korea wants to maintain
its dominant position over Iran regarding missile technology by forcing Tehran
to delay the scheduled test launch.
North Korea is believed to have developed the new intermediate-range missile by
modifying a Soviet-made submarine-launched ballistic missile, the SSN6. It is
known as the BM-25 or Musudan among Western intelligence circles and military
experts.
''The shipment of the electronic components was supposed to be part of the new
agreement signed in late 2008 between Iran and North Korea for the continued
supply of the new missile's technology,'' the diplomatic source said.
''The test, when it succeeds, will enable Iran to improve its operational SSM
(surface-to-surface missile) capability, to advance to mass production of the
new missile,'' the source added, noting that the missile's target range is
between 2,500 and 3,500 kilometers depending on the warhead payload, thus
posing a threat to most of Europe.
Pyongyang apparently exported components to assemble 19 such missiles to Iran
in 2005.
No test launch of the new missile has been confirmed, but the 2008 South Korean
Defense White Paper said North Korea had recently deployed some of the new
IRBMs that have an estimated target range of more than 3,000 km ''for
operational purposes.''
The source said Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, which is involved in the
development of Iranian ballistic missiles, hopes that ''all efforts must be
made to make the IRBMs Iran's operational SSM capability by the end of this
decade.''
But the group is concerned that it could become harder to procure missile
components in the future due to the U.N. sanctions.
In September, a North Korean delegation visited Iran to discuss payment for the
containers seized in the UAE.
Iran at the time demanded that North Korea supply electronic parts and send
technicians for future test firings to be conducted by Tehran as conditions for
payment, the source said.
Tehran had earlier lodged complaints about what it described as the
uncooperative attitude of technicians dispatched from North Korea.
There is also a view in Iran that North Korea may be trying to test the new
missile on its own before Iran does, and speculation is emerging that the North
may have sold missiles that actually do not work.
==Kyodo