New Iran rocket launch site shows N. Korea links: Jane's

N.Korea slams US war games, pledges nuclear defence
Seoul (AFP) March 7, 2010 - North Korea said on Sunday it was abandoning efforts towards nuclear disarmament in response to US-South Korean military exercises and would be free to build up its nuclear forces. The announcement, carried by the official KCNA news agency, came from a spokesman for the North's army mission at the inter-Korean border on the eve of the US-South Korean exercises, titled Key Resolve/Foal Eagle. It said all military talks with the United States and South Korea would be suspended during the exercises, which involve 10,000 US troops stationed in South Korea plus 8,000 from abroad and last from March 8-18. "It is illogical to sit face to face with the dialogue partner who brings dark clouds of a nuclear war while levelling its gun at the other party, and discuss 'peace' and 'cooperation' with him. "The process for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will naturally come to a standstill and the DPRK (North Korea) will bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defence," the statement said, alleging that the exercises were actually "nuclear war exercises".

The North is entitled "to counter with powerful nuclear deterrent," it added. The North already warned on March 2 that the annual US-South Korean exercise would torpedo efforts to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons and vowed to beef up its arsenal if necessary. The North, which tested its first atomic bomb in 2006, conducted a second nuclear test last May, triggering harsh UN sanctions. In recent weeks diplomatic efforts have intensified to revive six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations that the North abandoned last April. But the North demands UN sanctions be lifted before it returns to the six-party dialogue. It also wants a US commitment to discuss a peace pact to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 war. The North routinely criticises war games in South Korea as a rehearsal for invasion, while Seoul and its ally Washington say they are purely defensive.

by Staff Writers
London (AFP) March 5, 2010
Iran is building a new rocket launch site a short distance from an existing complex and seems to be working with North Korea, information group IHS Jane's said Friday.

Construction visible from satellite imagery of the new site, near the city of Semnan east of Tehran, suggests that Iran has been collaborating with Pyongyang, said the London-based defence intelligence group.

Iran unveiled the Simorgh (Phoenix) space-launch vehicle (SLV) on February 3 but has not publicly revealed the location of the rocket's launch complex, it reported.

But Jane's said it had observed a new launch pad four kilometres (6.5 miles) northeast of the existing Semnan site on a satellite image dated February 6.

The site could ultimately launch Tehran's next-generation Simorgh rocket, it said.

Jane's said that using satellite photographs taken on February 11, as Iran celebrated the Islamic revolution's 31st birthday, it had identified the Simorgh and Safir-2 rockets displayed in Tehran's Azadi Square.

The site includes a gantry tower which is 13 metres (43 feet) wide, approximately 18-20 metres tall "and has a cliff-side flame bucket nearly as high as the tower itself."

"It appears midway towards completion," it said, adding that the launch pad could easily accommodate the 27-metre Simorgh if the gantry were to be extended by an additional 10 metres.

And it added: "The development of the Semnan facility and the Simorgh SLV both demonstrate the likelihood of collaboration with North Korea in Iran's missile programme.

"The platforms seen on the new gantry tower resemble those seen on the gantry tower at North Korea's new launch pad at Tongchang. A drainage pit 170 metres directly in front of the pad also mirrors one at Pyongyang's new west-coast launch site.

"Similarly, the first stage of the Simorgh strongly resembles the North Korean Unha-2, with four clustered engines and nearly the same dimensions."

The respected information group concluded that Iran appears to be forging ahead with developing its missile and rocket capabilities despite US-led diplomatic pressure, including threats of new United Nations sanctions.

"Given these investments in its missile infrastructure, and despite the United States attempting to garner support for further sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programme, Tehran appears determined to continue developing its missile and rocket capabilities in the foreseeable future," it said.

The West suspects Iran of secretly trying to build an atomic bomb and fears the technology used to launch space rockets could be diverted into developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Tehran denies having military goals for its space programme or its nuclear drive.

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S.Korea urges N.Korea to drop hostile tactics
Seoul (AFP) March 3, 2010
South Korea's point man on North Korea Wednesday urged the communist state to drop its hard-line tactics, saying they would only undermine ties. "North Korea's hard-lined measures can no longer serve as (viable) strategies or tactics," Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek told an annual meeting of government officials and advocates of unification with the North. "Confrontation and discord w ... read more

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