A top U.S. official disclosed today that Iran and North Korea have developed networks to secure high-tech materials related to their nuclear programs:

“Both Iran and North Korea have developed channels that enable them to continue to export and continue to procure the items they need for their weapons industry,” he told a news briefing in Geneva. In comments to Reuters, he made clear he was referring to high-tech materials related to nuclear and other programs, including conventional weapons.

Another U.S. official was anonymously quoted indicating that Iran and North Korea are cooperating in developing their nuclear programs. North Korea’s February nuclear test was quickly linked to the Iranian program. An official at the time bluntly stated that it was “very possible that the North Koreans are testing for two countries.” Subsequent analysis of the blast deepened such concerns, after it was revealed that Pyongyang had taken unusual steps to hide the composition of the nuclear material used in the blast.

The two rogue regimes are also known to be boosting their conventional cooperation, part of an Iranian expansion into the Pacific:

Iran’s arrival in the Pacific “might also shed light on Iranian efforts to develop military ties with Asia,” Rubin wrote. “The implication of any Iranian military vessels continuing on to North Korea is alarming,” considering the overlapping nuclear aims of both rogue nations.

“While Tehran and Pyongyang cooperate commercially and, according to Western press reports, in the covert exchange of nuclear technology as well, overt military cooperation would suggest confidence and augmentation of ties which might challenge the West,” Rubin wrote.

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