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North Korea and Iran are jointly working on weapons programs designed to build a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, a British think tank has said.

According to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), North Korea's weapons programs are benefiting from technology from Iran.

In return, Pyongyang is supplying technology to Iran's uranium enrichment program that would allow it to increase its output. The disclosure marks an escalation in the race for nuclear weapons technology by the two states.

Mark Fitzpatrick, the IISS expert on weapons proliferation, said North Korea possessed a technological edge over Iran in making nuclear equipment.

It was capable of manufacturing high strength steel that Iran has been unable to manufacture. Iran has instead fallen back on carbon fibre materials that are less reliable.

"What previously had been a one-way flow of North Korean nuclear sales to Iran is now going two ways," he said.

"North Korea may be self-sufficient in its uranium program and there are some areas where Iran can't produce equipment that North Korea has the capacity to produce."

The emergence of a North Korean "comparative advantage" over Iran in uranium enrichment has caught experts by surprise. Iran has been working fo... >>>