North Korea Expresses Respect for Iran’s New Supreme Leader Choice

Pyongyang, a long-time foe of the United States, had previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran as “an illegal act of aggression.”

Defying U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who rules Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday appointed Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Feb. 28.

“We respect the right and choice of the Iranian people to choose their own religious leader,” Pyongyang’s unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). he said.

The US and Israel are “destroying the foundations of regional peace and security and increasing instability around the world,” the official said.

The spokesman accused Washington and Israel of violating Iran’s “political system and territorial integrity” and trying to “overthrow its social system.”

He added that such actions “deserve worldwide criticism and rejection because they can never be tolerated.”

The United States has led efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear program for decades, but summits, sanctions and diplomatic pressure have had little effect.

In recent months, the Trump administration has pushed to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, targeting a possible summit between the US president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year.

Kim, who has largely ignored those overtures for months, recently said the two countries could “get along” if Washington accepted Pyongyang’s nuclear status.

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Pyongyang’s state media also said on Wednesday that the North Korean leader oversaw another test firing of strategic cruise missiles from the navy’s Choe Hyon destroyer.

North Korea conducted a similar missile test on the ship last week, claiming the country was in the process of “arming the Navy with nuclear weapons.”

During the event, Kim stressed the importance of expanding a “strong and reliable nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA reported.

Footage released by state media showed Kim remotely supervising the launch via video footage alongside his teenage daughter, Ju Ae, who is now widely regarded as his heir apparent.

Kim said “significant achievements” had been made in the practical deployment of “strategic and tactical strike assets” there.

The test comes as Washington and Seoul begin “Freedom Shield” spring military exercises on Monday, to which Pyongyang responded by warning of “unimaginably dire consequences.”

Choe Hyon is one of two 5,000-ton destroyers in the North’s arsenal; Both were launched last year as Kim sought to strengthen his navy with short-range tactical missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP that North Korea had “secured the legitimacy and justification for strengthening war deterrence”.

With the war in Iran, North Korea emphasizes that joint US-South Korean exercises “are not only defensive and routine, but also a preventive war effort.”