Will a post-deal Iran outsource the bomb to North Korea? | NK News
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October 13, 2026Oct 13, 2026

Weapon Directory

Analysis

Will a post-deal Iran outsource the bomb to North Korea?

Worries that Tehran sanctions relief further funds Pyongyang’s nuke development

As the negotiators celebrate “Implementation Day” of the Obama Administration’s Iran nuclear deal less than two weeks after Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test, a critical question remains: is Pyongyang-Tehran nuclear cooperation now really a thing of the past? One takes limited comfort from the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which provided certification for Iranian compliance with the nuclear agreement, is the same organization that, under the 1994 Agreed Framework, oversaw the freezing of North Korean plutonium production at Pyongyang’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor. This occurred even while Pyongyang was simultaneously pursuing a secret, second path to nuclear