Iran and North Korea Join Forces on Science and Technology

According to state media in Iran, the nation has teamed with North Korea in order to cooperate on science and technology. The joint effort will include student exchanges, as well as labs where scientists on both sides can conduct research.

Word of the partnership comes days after Iran and North Korea signed a treaty over the matters of science and technology that will help them, as the state media explained, combat common enemies. Specifically, they will share resources and information on issues such as IT, energy, food technologies, agriculture, and biotechnologies.

In a statement broadcasted on state-ran television, President Ahmadinejad said the agreement would have a “great impact on strengthening bilateral ties, expanding cooperation and boosting the anti-hegemonic front.”

According to V3, the announcement caused some in the InfoSec world to sit up and take notice.

“It’s highly likely that one of the reasons for this co-operation is for them to work together regarding their cyber defense and cyber offense strategies. Both of these countries have clear interest in improving their cyber capability,” F-Secure’s Mikko Hypponen told the news agency during an interview.

Hypponen has a point, but it should be noted that cybersecurity was not a focal point of the Iranian announcement.

The official record released to the media said that Ahmadinejad welcomed North Korea’s envoy, Kim Yong Nam, Presidium of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), during the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) talks, where the two spoke of existing issues in the region, and signed the science accord.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told the SPA’s president during the signing that the two nations have “common enemies.”

“Arrogant powers don’t tolerate independent governments,” the Ayatollah added. “In the march towards great goals, one should be serious, and pressures, sanctions and threats should not cause any crack in [our] determination.”

Still, both nations make no effort to hide the thin thread of friendship that exists between them and the U.S., what little tie there is. So it is entirely possible that they would seek to help each other out online as well as off.