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Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/14/167212153/what-north-koreas-rocket-launch-tells-us-about-irans-role
What North Korea's Rocket Launch Tells Us about Iran's Role
(NPR) Tom Gjelten - U.S. analysts say the North Koreans' main goal in launching a satellite into orbit this week is to see all three stages of their rocket work, to show that the rocket could carry its payload a long distance. We know North Korea and Iran have worked together in missile design, says Charles Vick, a missile expert at GlobalSecurity.org, in comparing the North Korean Nodong missile with Iran's Shahab. "In every detail, right down to the re-entry vehicles, Nodong A is the Shahab 3," he says. "The technology is being transferred in both directions, and I think that's what's going on in the nuclear technology, too." Theodore Postol, a missile expert at MIT, says this week's North Korean rocket was actually a joint production between North Korean and Iranian engineers.