Iran and North Korea are faced with similar challenges posed by the US, particularly since the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and…
Iran and North Korea are faced with similar challenges posed by the US, particularly since the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and President Trump. The recent visit of the North Korean foreign minister to Tehran might presage an attempt to covertly retain and transfer cardinal North Korean nuclear and ballistic assets to Iran.
Not long after the US reimposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, arrived in Tehran. The visit took place in the midst of faltering talks between Pyongyang and Washington over fulfilling the goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. Ri traveled to Tehran after attending a security forum in Singapore, where he and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sparred over an agreement made at June’s landmark summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un.
On his visit to Tehran, Ri met first with Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif, who said that the two countries “expressed satisfaction with existing bilateral relations and called for further expansion of ties.” He added, vaguely, that they had “discussed the latest regional and international developments, as well as issues of mutual interest.”
Ri then met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and briefed him on the ongoing talks between the DPRK and the US. He was quoted as saying that his country’s strategic policy advocates a widening of ties with Iran and a confrontation of unilateralism. Ri described the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran as a contravention of international regulations.
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Rouhani said that the US, which seeks a deal to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, cannot be trusted. “In the current situation, friendly countries should develop their relations and cooperation in [the] international community,” he said, adding that Tehran and Pyongyang have “always had close views” on many issues.
A third meeting took place between Ri and Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. Noting the longstanding ties between the Islamic Republic and the besieged DPRK, Ri highlighted Pyongyang’s satisfaction with the resilient and longstanding friendship between the two states.
“We are very content with developing relations between Iran and North Korea,” he said, “while we are both experiencing similar problems under US sanctions. Dealing with Americans is difficult, and as our main goal is total disarmament of the whole Korean Peninsula, it is necessary that the Americans also abide by their commitments, but they refuse to do so. Although [Pyongyang] has agreed on disarmament to deliver on its commitments in negotiations with the US, we will preserve our nuclear science as we know that the Americans will not abandon their hostility toward us.
