North Korea condemns United States strike on Iran nuclear facilities in unnamed statement

North Korea says it strongly condemns the US strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities as a grave violation of a sovereign state’s security interests and territorial rights, the North’s state media reports.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said the United States and Israel were responsible for 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) strongly denounces the attack on Iran by the US 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 on Monday.

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

Iran and nuclear-armed North Korea have maintained friendly ties for years. Many countries suspect the two nations of cooperating with each other on multiple fronts, including in developing ballistic missiles.

A now-defunct panel of experts monitoring UN sanctions said in 2021 the two countries had resumed co-operation 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 US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Whether either country would be interested in substantively co-operating on any efforts to rebuild or accelerate Iran’s nuclear weapons program 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 US 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 US, Ukrainian, and other intelligence sources.