N. Korea ‘strongly’ denounces U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites

North Korea on Monday “strongly” condemned U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. which severely violated the U.N. 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 valor,” accusing Israel and the U.S. of further aggravating tensions in the Middle East.

“The just international community should raise the voice of unanimous censure and rejection against the U.S. 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 programs. Pyongyang earlier condemned Israel’s strikes against Iran, calling them a “hideous act.”