Joseph Bermudez, analyst for the specialist magazine, said North Korea could share the results of such a test with Iran or even allow them to send observers to watch it.

"The result is that Iran could test a nuclear weapon's design without publicly crossing the threshold to becoming a nuclear weapon state," Bermudez said in a statement from Jane's before it appears in next week's edition.

North Korea announced Tuesday it intended to carry out a nuclear weapon test, prompting an alarmed UN Security Council to urge Pyongyang on Friday to abandon such plans.

The announcement, Jane's said, "comes at a critical time when efforts by the European Union and the United States to convince Iran to suspend uranium enrichment are intensifying."

A North Korean test, it added, would also stir regional instability, possibly provoking South Korea to reactivate its nuclear program and spurring Japan to speed up the revival of its military.

South Korea and Japan on Saturday welcomed the UN statement, and again warned the Communist government in Pyongyang of serious consequences if it carried out its test plans.

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