N Korea ‘honours’ Iran’s selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader US-Israel war over Iran news

North Korea’s foreign ministry spokesman hailed the appointment of Iran’s new supreme leader and condemned the US and Israel’s ‘illegal military strikes’.

North Korea has announced its support for the installation of Iran’s Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s supreme leader and has again condemned “illegal” attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, state media reports.

Pyongyang respects Iran’s choice to elect Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli war on February 2, as supreme leader, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a spokesman for North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying on Wednesday.

“Regarding the recent official announcement that the Assembly of Iranian Experts has chosen a new leader of the Islamic Revolution, we respect the right and choice of the Iranian people to choose their supreme leader,” KCNA quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

“We express grave concern and strongly condemn the aggression of the United States and Israel, which, by launching an illegal military attack against Iran, is undermining the foundations of regional peace and security and increasing instability in the international landscape,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman condemned the attack as undermining “the political system and territorial integrity of the country”, which was unacceptable and “must be condemned and rejected by the entire world”.

After launching the US-Israeli war on Iran 12 days ago, North Korea condemned what it branded “rogue-like behavior” in the Middle East.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw another test firing of strategic cruise missiles by the country’s latest and largest naval destroyer, the Cho Hyon, KCNA reported on Wednesday.

Kim spoke at the event about the key strategic task of “maintaining and expanding a powerful and credible nuclear war deterrent,” according to KCNA.

The launch of the missile from Cho Han was the second missile test from a destroyer overseen by Kim, who last week hailed his country as “arming the navy with nuclear weapons.”

The U.S. has waged decades of efforts to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, but has had little influence on Pyongyang, which its allies in South Korea and Washington assert need such weapons to deter any threat of aggression.

In recent months, the Trump administration has signaled its willingness to revive high-level talks with North Korea, while Kim recently said the two countries could “accommodate” if Washington accepts his country’s status as a nuclear power.