Pyongyang slams monitoring group's report on North Korea-Russia military cooperation
Seoul: North Korea on Monday denounced a monitoring group on the enforcement of UN sanctions against Pyongyang for issuing a report on military cooperation between the North and Russia, calling the move a violation of a state's sovereign rights.
The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) on Thursday issued the first report detailing illegal military cooperation carried out between North Korea and Russia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.
The chief of the external policy office at North Korea's foreign ministry said the MSMT committed a "political provocation" by fabricating a report taking issue with cooperative ties between the North and Russia, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Calling the MSMT a "bogus group which has no legality in terms of existence and purpose," the official said the report is a "wanton" violation of international legal principles centering on sovereignty equality and non-interference in others' internal affairs.
"We give stern warning against the negative consequences to be entailed by its reckless acts," the North's official said in a statement carried by the KCNA.
North Korea said the MSMT is a "political tool" operating in line with the West's geopolitical interests, stressing, "It has no justification to investigate the exercise of sovereign rights of other countries," according to the KCNA.
In response, South Korea's foreign ministry defended the MSMT's activities as legitimate and in line with the international obligations to enforce and monitor compliance with UN sanctions against North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.
The ministry noted that North Korea-Russia military cooperation is a "clear violation" of UN Security Council resolutions banning arms trade with North Korea, calling such resolutions legally binding for all UN member stages.
It rejected the North's claim of a sovereignty violation as an "absurd" argument that disregards the authority of the security council and the international obligation to comply with its resolutions.
The MSMT was established in October last year with the initiative of South Korea and the United States to continue the sanctions monitoring of North Korea following the disbandment of the UN Panel of Experts on North Korean sanctions monitoring due to Russia's veto.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
36 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Pakistan's Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called out by journalist at UN
Pakistan's former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was called out here by a journalist on his comments about alleged demonisation of Muslims in India. The former Pakistan foreign minister, who is leading a team of experts to inform the world about the recent conflict with India, was briefing the media about their perspective on Tuesday. During the question-answer session, Egyptian-American journalist Ahmad Fathi, UN correspondent of American Television News (ATN), asked Bilawal about his comments on India's treatment of Muslims and reminded him that it was an Indian Muslim military officer who was briefing the media during the conflict. Let me start with a statement you made today, saying that the recent terrorist attack in Kashmir is being used as a political tool to demonise Muslims in India. Sir, I have watched the briefings on both sides, and as far as I recall, there were Muslim Indian military officers who were conducting the briefing on the Indian side, Fathi said. He was about to ask his second question when Bilawal stopped him mid-sentence. The Pakistani leader then went on to criticise India and continued his usual rhetoric. Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7. Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side strongly responded to the Pakistani attempts by inflicting heavy damage to a number of key Pakistani military installations, including air bases, air defence systems, command and control centres and radar sites. On May 10, the militaries of the two countries agreed on an understanding to end the hostilities. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Iran's Khamenei calls US nuclear proposal against national interest
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday a US proposal for a nuclear agreement was against the national interest, amid sharp differences over whether Tehran can continue to enrich uranium. The longtime foes have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new accord to replace the deal with major powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. On Saturday, Iran said it had received "elements" of the US proposal through Omani mediators, the details of which have not been publicly disclosed. "The proposal presented by the Americans is 100 percent against" notions of independence and self-reliance, Khamenei said in a televised speech, invoking ideals of the 1979 Islamic revolution. "Independence means not waiting for the green light from America and the likes of America." Iran's enrichment of uranium has emerged as a major point of contention. Trump said on Monday his administration would not allow "any" enrichment, despite Tehran's insistence it is its right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Khamenei said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear programme and that the United States "cannot have a say" on the issue. "If we have 100 nuclear power plants but don't have enrichment, they will be of no use to us," because "nuclear power plants need fuel" to operate, he said. "If we cannot produce this fuel domestically, we have to reach out to the United States, which may have dozens of conditions." The New York Times reported Tuesday that the US proposal includes "an arrangement that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels" as the US and other countries "work out a more detailed plan intended to block Iran's path to a nuclear weapon". It said the proposal would see the United States facilitating "the building of nuclear power plants for Iran and negotiate the construction of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries". Iran has previously said it is open to temporary limits on its enrichment of uranium, and is willing to consider the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel consortium. But it has stressed that such a consortium is "in no way intended to replace Iran's own uranium enrichment programme". Iran's chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said in a Wednesday post on X: No enrichment, no deal. No nuclear weapons, we have a deal." On Monday, Araghchi held talks in Cairo with Rafael Grossi, head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. In its latest quarterly report last week, the IAEA said Iran had further stepped up its production of highly enriched uranium. In a separate report, it also criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites. Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead. The reports came ahead of a planned IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna later this month which will review Iran's nuclear activities. Washington and other Western governments have continued to accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability. Iran insists its programme is for peaceful purposes only. The 2015 deal provided Iran with relief from international sanctions in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities. Trump reimposed US sanctions when he quit the agreement in 2018 and has since tightened them with secondary sanctions against third parties who violate them. Britain, France and Germany, the three European countries who were party to the 2015 deal, are currently weighing whether to trigger the sanctions "snapback" mechanism in the accord. The mechanism would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance -- an option that expires in October. Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on "forged documents" provided by its arch foe Israel.
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- India Gazette
India's new policy of resolve a strong deterrent: Former diplomat Syed Akbaruddin in Egypt
Cairo [Egypt], June 4 (ANI): India's former permanent representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, highlighted the success of the all-party delegation's visit to four nations, aimed at engaging with civil society across diverse countries to strengthen India's fight against terrorism. Speaking at the conclusion of the visit, Akbaruddin said, 'The multi-party delegation's goals were to reach out to the civil society in diverse countries. Having people from different parties in the delegation has had an impact because everybody is surprised that such a diverse country with so many differences, the people are united in countering has expanded the base of Indian diplomacy. As a country, we have come up with new terms of engagement in terms of trying to counter policy of restraint is now being superseded, and we have a policy of resolve, and that is an effective deterrent. This is what we have noticed where we have engaged with of narratives is a long-term process of building and seeping into the minds of people. Such visits add to the soft power of India...' He added that these diplomatic efforts form part of a broader strategy to enhance India's international engagement and counter-terrorism diplomacy. The delegation's visit underscores India's commitment to counter terrorism through dialogue and cooperation with global stakeholders. Comprising MPs from across parties, the delegation interacted with top leaders, think tanks, and opinion-makers in each country, highlighting India's unified stand against terrorism and calling for global cooperation to tackle the threat. On Tuesday, the delegation led by Supriya Sule met Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in the New Administrative Capital. Abdelatty condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives, stating such attacks cannot be tolerated. Labeling the India-Egypt relationship as 'historic,' Abdelatty said, 'It was a great pleasure to receive the Parliamentary delegation from relationship is historic. But, we need to further enhance our trade investment and economic relationship to match the excellent political relationship between the two countries and their position is very clear: we condemn, in the harshest words, the terrorist attack in Kashmir. We cannot tolerate any attacks on civilians.' The delegation, led by Supriya Sule, included Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, Manish Tewari, Anurag Singh Thakur, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Anand Sharma, former Minister of Commerce & Industry, V Muraleedharan, Former Minister of State for External Affairs, and Syed Akbaruddin, Former Permanent Representative of India to the UN. The delegation aimed to brief international partners on India's response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders in key countries. (ANI)
