Report: Iran acquired submarines from N. Korea

A U.S. congressional report said Iran has procured sonar evading submarines from North Korea. The report said Teheran has received other equipment, including weapons of mass destruction, from Pyongyang.

A lof of the 62-page report titled “Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses,” written for the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress

, did not provide details on the North Korean deal with Iran and is old news. To me its primary value is that it compiles a lof of hitherto fragments into one place.

Notable the report begins with history, admittedly cursory given the former Persian Empires 2,500 year history is that it leaves out the most important thing about how we came to the present situation  i.e., former President Jimmy Carter’s campaign to remove the staunchly pro-USA Shah and install the Ayotollah. In fact it can be argued that had Carter – Ball and Kissinger not undertook to end the Shah’s regime the present situation with Iran-Iraq-Afghanistan and even North Korea would be vastly different.

With that caveat the report is useful to catalogue development and sketch today’s situation..

Several North Korean midget submarines were said to have arrived in Iran, according to the report. “Iran is said to possess several, possibly purchased assembled or in kit form from North Korea,” it continued.  These craft can be used for infiltration and to carry explosives and even a nuclear warhead into a harbor or adjacent to warships.

In addition, Teheran was said to have purchased up to $2 billion per year in military equipment from North Korea, the report dated Oct. 5 and authored by analyst Kenneth Katzman said.

“Iran purportedly has acted as an intermediary with North Korea to supply Syria with various forms of WMD and missile technology,” the report said.

Iran might have also produced its own small submarine. CRS quoted an Iranian government statement in November 2007 that reported the production of a small submarine with sonar-evading technology.

“Most of Iran’s other military-to-military relationships, such as with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, North Korea, and a few others, generally center on Iranian arms purchases or upgrades,” the report said.

The report was released as the State Department cited Iran and North Korea as key challenges to U.S. non-proliferation policy. The Obama administration was deemed by CRS as trying to woo Syria to sever its strategic cooperation with Teheran.

“Iran is a major investor in the Syrian economy, which attracts very little Western investment, and some believe the Iran-Syria alliance is not easily severed,” the report said. Last week Obama announced a multi-billion dollar fund for “muslim  country technology development” this maybe the very fiust time a religion  has been overtly cited to target U. S. aid.

The report said although Iran lacks the “logistical ability to project power much beyond its borders, Iranian forces could still cause damage to U.S. forces and allies in the Gulf region.”

“They are sufficiently effective to deter or fend off conventional threats from Iran’s weaker neighbors such as post-war Iraq, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan,” the report said.

Carter’s “mistakes” promulgated the disasterously dangerous situation now anchored in Iran, and  serves as a warning about judgments being made now in that region.