UK lists Iran among only five countries with missile threat

The Muslim News ^ | April 30 2002 | IRNA

[knighthawk]

London, IRNA -- The British government has listed a total of 28 countries possessing ballistic missile capabilities, but perceives only five, including Iran, as being a "threat."

The list of countries operating ballistic missiles, drawn up by the Ministry of Defence, includes the five permanent members of the Security Council, France, Russia, China, the US and the UK. The rest are spread across Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The emerging theatre of ballistic missiles was presented as a memo to the parliamentary Defence Select Committee last month, but only recently has been made available on the internet.

In the Middle East, it includes Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE and Yemen as well as Iran. In Central Asia, it lists Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

The others in Eastern Europe and elsewhere in Asia include Pakistan, India, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam, Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

But in an accompanying memo, issued jointly with the Foreign Office, the Defence Ministry listed only North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria as having threatening programs in developing ballistic missiles.

While saying it currently assessed there was "no significant threat to the UK," it said that "were a country in the Middle East or North Africa to acquire a complete long-range ballistic system, a capability to target the UK accurately could emerge within the next few years."

[knighthawk]

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