U.S. generals says North Korea and Iran joined on missile work

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran and North Korea have worked together and made significant progress on ballistic missiles that could carry deadly warheads, the head of the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency said on Thursday.

"It really is an international effort going on out there to develop ballistic missile capability between these countries," Army Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly told a forum on Capitol Hill.

Iran and North Korea each are at odds with their neighbours and with much of the international community over nuclear programs. Each has demonstrated a capability to launch missiles that fired through their second stages this spring.

They represent the most pronounced example of a kind of international "coalition" sharing know-how on avionics, propulsion and materials among other things, O'Reilly said.

"We've seen it for years and it continues," he said of such cooperation between North Korea and Iran.

Their ability to fire missiles with a stable ignition and launch a second stage represents "a significant step forward" for both of them, O'Reilly said.

Asked which was further along in missile development, he said it could be described as a "horse race" with no clear leader.

The U.S. Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Centre, in a new report, said Iran, with support from outside sources, within six years could produce an ocean-leaping missile capable of hitting the United States.