North Korea on Monday "strongly" condemned US military strikes against Iran's nuclear sites, saying that bombing Iran is a violation of a sovereign state's security interests and territorial integrity. The North's foreign ministry issued the condemnation as the US entered a war against Iran by staging precision strikes on three key nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea strongly denounces the attack on Iran by the US, which severely violated the UN Charter ... and violently trampled down the territorial integrity and security interests of a sovereign state," a spokesperson of the North's ministry said, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.
The North's ministry blamed the current situation in the Middle East as an "inevitable product" brought by Israel's "reckless valour," accusing Israel and the US of further aggravating tensions in the Middle East.
"The just international community should raise the voice of unanimous censure and rejection against the US and Israel's confrontational acts," the North's ministry said. North Korea and Iran are known to have close ties while under international sanctions for their weapons programmes.
Pyongyang earlier condemned Israel's strikes against Iran, calling them a "hideous act," Yonhap news agency reported. Earlier, the US and Iran exchanged sharp accusations at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following US military strikes on three of Iran's major nuclear facilities, an operation that has drawn global attention and concern over the potential for broader conflict.
Addressing the Council a day after US President Donald Trump confirmed American forces struck the Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan nuclear sites, acting US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Camille Shea, said that the strikes were aimed at dismantling Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and ending the nuclear threat posed by what she called the "world's foremost state sponsor of terror".
"This operation sought to eliminate a longstanding but rapidly escalating source of global insecurity and to aid our ally Israel in our inherent right of collective self-defence consistent with the UN Charter," she added.
Shea accused Iran of long obstructing transparency in its nuclear activities, saying it has "stonewalled good-faith efforts" in recent negotiations. "For 40 years, the Iranian government has called for 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' and posed a constant menace to the peace and security of its neighbours, the US, and the entire world," she added.
Shea warned Tehran against further escalation, saying, "As President Trump said, any Iranian attack -- direct or indirect -- against Americans or American bases will be met with devastating retaliation."