JERUSALEM, April 27: Iran has purchased North Korean long-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting Europe, the head of Israel’s military intelligence was reported as saying on Thursday.

Some of the missiles, which have a range of 2,500 kilometres and are known in the West as BM-25, have already arrived in Iran, General Amos Yadlin said in a lecture in comments reported by the Haaretz newspaper.

While Iran already had missiles capable of hitting Israel and US bases in the Middle East, the new weapons pose a threat for countries elsewhere in the region and in Europe that now come into Iranian range, Haaretz said.

The new ground-to-ground missiles operate on liquid fuel. They were originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, where they were adapted for use by submarines and able to carry a nuclear warhead.

After the Soviets retired the missiles from service, they sold them to the North Koreans, who developed them to carry a heavier payload, Haaretz said.

Iran’s medium-range Shahab-3 missiles, with a range of 2,000 kilometres, already put Israel and US bases in the Middle East within reach.

Several weeks ago, Iran successfully test-fired a new high-speed underwater missile capable of destroying huge warships and submarines, and another capable of avoiding radar detection and striking a number of targets simultaneously.

Iran’s ballistic weapons programme has heightened fears in Israel and much of the rest of the international community already anxious to prevent it from seeking to develop nuclear weapons.—AFP