The Islamic Republic of Iran’s massive missile system is the brainchild of the US-designated state sponsor of terrorism, the communist North Korean regime, which works hand in glove with Iran, according to one of the world’s leading experts on the Iran-North Korea strategic alliance.
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Kim imagined herself visiting a large ammunition depot in an image released in December 2025. (KCNA via Reuters)
Bechtol said: “Iran’s main threat as the war with the United States and Israel has developed has been its ballistic missiles, which have been launched not only at US facilities and Israeli cities, but also at neighboring Islamic countries. So it is important to think about this capability and where Iran got it from.”
He said: “The short-range ballistic missiles that Iran has launched at key US facilities and at neighboring Arab states include a key system – the ‘QIAM.’ The QIAM was developed and improved with the help of North Korea… North Korea has spread a lot to Iran, which we are now seeing in the war.”
The launch of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Shahab-3 medium-range missile during a test at a secret location on September 28, 2009. (AP photo)
The joint US-Israeli war against the Iranian regime, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism according to the US State Department, has entered its fifth week.
Bechtol, a professor of political science in the Department of Security Studies at Angelo State University in Texas, noted that North Korea had built a major missile test facility in Emamshahr, a city in Iran’s Fars Province, and a tracking facility in Tabas in South Khorasan Province, according to the Wisconsin Project.
He said North Korea has helped Iran with crucial technology “for targets further away from Iran.”
“The North Koreans distributed approximately 150 No Dong systems to Iran in the late 1990s. The Iranians were apparently very happy with the missiles the North Koreans supplied them and, following the earlier precedent of the Scud C factory, entered into a contract with Pyongyang to build a No Dong facility in Iran.”
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Bechtol continued, “The Iranians called this ‘new’ missile the Shahab-3. The Shahab-3 is almost an exact copy of the No Dong. Once the Shahab-3 was operational, the North Koreans continued working with the Iranians to improve its range and lethality.
He said: “With the help of the North Koreans, the Iranians were then able to produce (at the No Dong factory) the Emad and the Ghadr. The Emad has a range of 1,750 kilometers (about 1,087 miles) and the Ghadr has a range of 1,950 kilometers (about 1,212 miles). The Iranians have used these two systems to attack not only Israel, but also their Arab neighbors (including US bases in these countries) throughout the years. continuing early phases of this conflict.”
Missiles and a portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on display during the annual Defense Week, marking the 37th anniversary of the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, in Tehran, Iran, September 24, 2017. (AP)
Bechtol said the North Koreans have produced an Iranian warhead weighing between one and a half tons and two tons on the powerful Khorramshahr-4. “There is another system that could strike Israel that is even deadlier than any yet described. This system is called the ‘Khorramshahr’, and the fourth version of this system, aptly called the ‘Khorramshahr-4’, has been proven to carry a warhead larger than any other in Iran’s missile inventory, armed with what appears to be cluster munitions,” he said.
Describing the strategic partnership, he noted: “North Korea is the seller and Iran is the buyer. North Korea distributes weapons systems, technology, parts and components, technicians, engineers and specialists, and military capabilities (such as the construction of underground facilities) to Iran. Iran pays North Korea with cash and oil. It’s that simple.’
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Residents and officers of the Israeli Home Front Command inspect a house destroyed by an Iranian missile attack in Zarzir, northern Israel, March 13, 2026. (Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)
Bechtol said the only way to stop this is by imposing sanctions on North Korea. “The sanctions needed are already on the books. But the US and our key allies must enforce them vigorously. We must go after banks, front companies and cyber entities to extort the money and contain or destroy the supply chain.”
He said: “More emphasis and action must be taken using the Proliferation Security Initiative – an underutilized aspect of preventing the flow of weapons from North Korea to rogue states and terrorist groups. If you cut off the supply chain, you stop proliferation.”
