Israeli fear of Tehran laying hands on Pyongyang missiles showcased
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An article on The Jerusalem Post by its intelligence analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob showcases Israeli concerns of DPRK hypersonic weapons being delivered to Iran.
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An image provided by the DPRK showing the missile test launch on January 5
North Korea’s latest missile test on Wednesday sparked concerns in “Israel” that the country’s hypersonic missile technology would find its way to Iran.
Since Israelis themselves weren't able to independently confirm if this was indeed a hypersonic missile test, analysts have already begun to study the implications of the launch (the DPRK says it is indeed a hypersonic missile). Moreover, the timing of the launch, amid the ongoing Vienna Talks, has Israeli analysts fearing possible messages in support of Iran and against the US.
An article on The Jerusalem Post by Israeli intelligence analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob reveals that Israeli fears stem from the fact that ballistic missiles would be easier to shoot down if they were launched from Iran (although this becomes less true in the case of Lebanon).
However, hypersonic missiles are a different thing altogether, since they are “much faster and take a different flight path than a regular ballistic missile, flying part of its journey lower to the ground where it is harder to detect by radar and is also considered more maneuverable.”
“Put simply, a hypersonic missile is much harder to shoot down,” he adds.
Iran getting a transfer of hypersonic missile technology from the DPRK, aside from Israeli fears of Iran growing closer to nuclear weapons (which the latter has denied on multiple occasions), would elevate the ballistic missile threat posed by the Islamic Republic on the Israeli occupation.
As for the message the analyst thinks North Korea may be trying to deliver to Iran (other than the one it is delivering to the US), “Kim could be signaling to the Islamic Republic that it does not need to negotiate or play ball with the West.”
Though a lot of this is analytical guesswork, as not much is known about the test, the intelligence specialist says that whatever the answers, "none of them are good news for the US or Israel."
