Israel Destroyed 'North Korean Missile' in Iran 0 14

On February 28, Israel destroyed a medium-range ballistic missile Shahab 3, produced in Iran under North Korean license, along with its launch pad, writes Military Watch Magazine (MWM) citing materials from the Israeli Air Force.

The magazine claims that the Shahab 3 is the oldest type of Iranian ballistic missile, which are essentially copies of North Korean Hwasong-7 missiles.

"It is widely believed that Iran may have helped finance the missile's development to ensure access to it for its armed forces. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, Iran was cut off from Soviet weapon supplies, as post-Soviet Russia was quite willing to succumb to the pressures of the West and Israel," the publication states.

MWM notes that Iran and North Korea currently possess much more advanced missiles than the Shahab 3 (Hwasong-7), which could nevertheless have been upgraded. Furthermore, the magazine writes that Shahab 3 missiles require the use of more expensive interceptors and deplete the arsenals of Western air defense systems.