Posted on 04/27/2006 3:29:47 AM PDT by familyop
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran has received a first shipment of missiles from North Korea that are capable of reaching Europe, Israel's military intelligence chief was quoted on Thursday as saying.
Known in the West as BM-25s, the Russian-designed missiles have a range of around 2,500 km (1,500 miles), giving them a longer reach than the Iranian-made Shihab-4 missiles which are capable of hitting Israel.
The intelligence chief, Major-General Amos Yadlin, was quoted by Israel's Haaretz newspaper as saying in a lecture on Wednesday that some BM-25s had arrived in Iran.
The BM-25 was originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, where it was known as the SSN6, a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, Haaretz reported.
After the Russians decommissioned the SSN6, the missiles were sold to North Korea, which adapted them to carry a heavier payload, the newspaper's military affairs correspondent said.
In February, a German diplomat, citing his country's intelligence data, confirmed a German newspaper report that said Iran had purchased 18 disassembled BM-25s from North Korea.
Israel has been urging the international community to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear programme as well as its efforts to obtain long-range missiles.
Iran, the world's fourth largest producer of crude oil, says its nuclear programme is a peaceful project to provide electricity.
Israel is widely believed to have more than 200 nuclear warheads. It declines to comment on its atomic programme, saying only it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the Middle East.
The irrelevance of the last paragraph is interesting. Is Reuters hinting that it would only be fair for Islamist countries to have nukes, too, or maybe that Israel should take care of Iran to protect western Europe?
Here it is. German intel also knew about it.
...a little more info (re. German intel).
They just had to throw in:
"Israel is widely believed to have more than 200 nuclear warheads."
So their report is "fair and balanced"...
al-Reuters always takes side against Israel, that's a given fact.
"BM-25s from North Korea"
Am I the only person to see some ironic humor in the alpha-designator for that missile?
Considering that Kim Jong ILL, Amadjihad and the rest of that crew are full of it, it kinda makes sense.
The Europeans--after the first strike hits them will start to wake up. Who knows:, by the time the Iranians are ready to strike them they may be run by Muslims anyway.
It is nice to know that the Iranians have agreed to share their weapons with other crazies in the neighborhood. I am sure Syria will love receiving them. They took in Saddams weapons so easily.
Aren't there some types of sanctions to prevent NK from exporting missiles/tech to other countries? This seems way to easy.
MI Ping
Probably not, but there are others who thought the BM was for "Ballistic Missile."
****
Hmmmm, if only we knew what Billy Jeff Clinton would do in this case.
;-)
No they wont! They will find every angle to either blame us or themselves or Israel...but they will not "wake up" to reality.
Face it folks, Europe is gone.
Russian-designed missiles
Europe needs to wake up russia is not your friend and wants to control you through petrol aka Gazprom. Maybe its to late for them. Thank god the US knows whats going on and will defend our self.
You're thinking in US designation systems. Remember these are PRK missiles and BM isn't their language. Could be transliterations.
LOL is that true, it must be if you say it is.
ok gives up packs bag and washes the trusty old white flag.
LOL
Fortunately the Euroweenies are peace loving folk, they have nothing to fear from another bunch of wacked-out muslims. (sarc off)
Sadly I know about what you speak. Are we really that old?
Europe's not gone. Think Cuba. Think Venezuela.
I think they have #1 Isreal in their sites and #2 the US.
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