Seoul: North Korea slammed Israel's latest air strike on Iran on Thursday as a "hideous act" of aggression, calling Israel, backed by the US and the West, a "cancer-like" entity that threatens Middle Eastern peace.
According to the Korean Central News Agency, a spokesperson for North Korea's foreign ministry expressed "serious" worries over Israel's military attack on Iran on Friday, accusing Israel of heightening the risk of a new all-out war in the Middle East.
"The present grave situation witnessed by the world clearly proves that Israel, supported and patronised by the US and the West, is a cancer-like entity for the peace in the Middle East and a chief culprit of destroying global peace and security," the official was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
North Korea lashed out at Israel's attack on Iran as a "hideous act of aggression" that violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a sovereign state and an "unpardonable crime against humanity."
"The Zionists who brought a new war to the Middle East and the behind-the-scenes forces who zealously patronise and support them will be held totally responsible for destroying international peace and security," the official said.
Having established diplomatic ties in 1973, North Korea and Iran are known to have close ties while under international sanctions for their weapons programmes. Pyongyang and Tehran have also provided weapons to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, Yonhap news agency reported.
When tensions in the Middle East arose, North Korea denounced Israel while expressing support for Iran or Syria to show its solidarity with an anti-US stance.
On the North's first response to the recent Israel-Iran conflict, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said, "It was noteworthy that North Korea strongly condemned Israel while toning down the level of criticism against the US."
With PTI inputs