North Korea’s senior official traveling to Iran for Rouhani’s inauguration

31-07-2017
Rudaw
Tags: North Korea North Korea-Iran relations weapons development Hassan Rouhani
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A senior official of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, left on Monday for Iran to attend the president’s swearing-in ceremony.

Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, is flying to Iran via Russia to attend Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration.

He is attending the inauguration ceremony on the invitation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Kim Yong-nam, 80, has frequently taken on the role of North Korea’s head of state since its “eternal president” President Kim Il Sung died in 1994, carrying out official meetings at home and abroad. He has described relations with Iran as long-standing, adding that Pyongyang is keen on expanding its relations with Tehran.

North Korea and Iran, which share anti-American sentiment and have reportedly cooperated in weapons development, have strengthened their diplomatic relations recently, as reported by South Korea’s Yonhap.

Choi Tae-bok, Chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, was the last North Korean senior official to visit Iran in February of this year to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Yonhap reported.

Rouhani secured his second term as president in Iran’s May elections.

The inauguration of Rouhani as the 7th President of Iran will occur in two stages. The first round will take place on August 4 when he receives his presidential precept from Supreme Leader Khamenei. The second round is scheduled for August 6 when he is sworn into the office in the parliament.

Comments

Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.

To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.

We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.

Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.

Post a comment

Required
Required