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North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the presidential palace in Tehran on Aug. 8. (photo source: Iranian presidential palace)

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho criticized US sanctions during a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s presidential palace announced on Aug. 8.

Ri’s meeting with Rouhani was held at the presidential palace in Tehran. During the meeting, Rouhani said the US isn’t trustworthy and doesn’t follow through on its commitments. Rouhani said this was the conclusion he had reached after observing the US’s actions for the past several years.

This is criticism for the US’s withdrawal in May from the nuclear deal that Iran reached with the permanent members of the UN Security Council in 2015 and the US’s resumption of sanctions on Iran on Aug. 7. Even on June 12, when the North Korea-US summit was held in Singapore, the Iranian government cautioned North Korea not to trust US President Donald Trump, whom it characterized as the kind of person who would “backtrack from his signature as he travels on a plane [back home].”

Ri was quoted by the Iranian presidential palace as saying that the US’s reimposition of sanctions on Iran was inappropriate and a violation of international norms. After arriving in Iran on Aug. 7, Ri met his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and expressed his satisfaction with the level of bilateral relations and discussed strengthening cooperation between Tehran and Pyongyang, the local press reported.

Ri’s visit to Iran coincided with the US’s reimposition of sanctions on Iran. Since North Korea is also under sanctions because of its development of nuclear weapons, this can also be seen as reflecting the fact that the two countries are facing the same difficulties. Ri ran into US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the ASEAN Regional Forum, which was held in Singapore shortly before Ri’s visit to Iran. But the two top diplomats did not have a separate meeting, reflecting the lack of progress on implementing the agreement reached in the North Korea-US summit on June 12.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Ri’s visit had been North Korea’s idea.

By Lee Bon-young, staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]