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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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U.S. worried by N.Korea, Iran missile link - report TOKYO, Saturday (Reuters) There is strong evidence that North Korea and Iran are cooperating on missile development, a senior U.S. official was quoted as saying on Saturday. Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily did not name the U.S. official, whom it quoted as telling reporters on Friday during a visit to Tokyo that Iran had given data on launch tests to North Korea. Iran and North Korea are part of U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil". "There is very strong evidence indicating that Iran and North Korea are cooperating on ballistic missile development," Asahi quoted the U.S. official as saying. The comments coincided with a visit to Japan by U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, part of a drive by Washington to breathe life into six-party talks aimed at ending a 20-month-old standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Bolton was scheduled to leave on Saturday after talks with Japanese officials. North Korea shocked Japan and the world in 1998 when it launched a Taepodong ballistic missile that passed over Japan before splashing into the sea. Japan is also concerned about North Korea's Rodong-1 missiles, which have a range of around 1,300 km (800 miles), and upon which Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missile was based. In a September 2002 summit with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il pledged to extend a moratorium on ballistic missile launches. |
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