North Korea condemns US strikes on Iran

SEOUL: North Korea condemned on Monday US strikes on Iran, calling it a violation of the United Nations charter and blaming the tension in the Middle East on the “reckless valor of Israel”.

It marks nuclear-armed North Korea’s first commentary on the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea strongly denounces the attack on Iran by the US which severely violated the UN Charter with respect for sovereignty,” said a spokesperson of the North’s foreign ministry, according to a statement carried by the state news agency.

The ongoing regional tension was an “inevitable product brought by the reckless valor of Israel”, the spokesperson added, claiming the Jewish state “has promoted its unilateral interests through ceaseless war moves and territorial expansion”.

Washington claimed Sunday its strikes “devastated” Iran’s nuclear programme, but has insisted it is not seeking to topple the government in the Islamic republic.

“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” US President Donald Trump wrote on social media, without sharing the images he was referencing.

North Korea is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads and various delivery systems as it faces off against South Korea and its key ally, the United States, which maintains around 30,000 troops on Korean peninsula.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, with the 1950–53 Korean War ending in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.