North Korea condemns US strike on Iran as violation of sovereign rights

SEOUL (Reuters) : North Korea said on Monday it strongly condemns the U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities as a grave violation of a sovereign state’s security interests and territorial rights, the North’s state media reported.

The United States and Israel are the culprits of the current tensions in the Middle East born out of Jerusalem’s “ceaseless war moves and territorial expansion” accepted and encouraged by the West,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said.

“(North Korea) strongly denounces the attack on Iran by the U.S. which … violently trampled down the territorial integrity and security interests of a sovereign state,” the unnamed spokesperson said in a statement carried by KCNA news agency.

“The just international community should raise the voice of unanimous censure and rejection against the U.S. and Israel’s confrontational acts,” the statement said.

Iran and nuclear-armed North Korea have maintained friendly ties and have been suspected for decades of military cooperation including in developing ballistic missiles.

A now-defunct panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions said in 2021 that the two countries had resumed cooperation on long-range missile development projects, including the transfer of critical parts.

“Pyongyang could provide important assistance in helping Iran reconstitute destroyed missile production facilities, including at new sites to avoid scrutiny, perhaps,” said Ankit Panda, of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Whether either country would be interested in substantively cooperating on any efforts to rebuild or accelerate Iran’s nuclear weapons programme is less certain, given the political and military sensitivities over such technology, he said.

“There are certain matters pertaining to weapons design that the North Koreans would not want to proliferate because once in Iran, they could be discovered by the United States and potentially assist the U.S. in undermining its deterrent,” Panda said.

However, Pyongyang has substantive experience in weaponisation and could be able to assist in the non-fissile components of a nuclear bomb, such as the conventional explosives, he added.

North Korea has taken unprecedented steps in the past year to deepen military assistance to Russia, another partner of Iran, by sending thousands of troops as well as ballistic missiles and other weapons for use in fighting Ukraine, according to U.S., Ukrainian, and other intelligence sources.