Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 30
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The North Korean Ambassador to Iran, Kang Sam-hyon has expressed interest on boosting economic ties with the Islamic Republic.
"However the North Korea is under sanctions and is facing various economic problems, we are trying to boost our economic relations with Iran," Sam-hyon said, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Aug. 30.
He further said that Pyongyang is interested to develop cooperation with Iran in the areas of oil, fisheries and agriculture.
The ambassador also asked the Iranian media to support North Korea.
"Korean Peninsula is in a critical situation and therefore we need Iranian and the world's news media support."
North Korean ambassador earlier in June asked for humanitarian aid from its historic ally Iran to tackle drought and food crisis. Sam-hyon delivered a request to the Iranian Red Crescent for urgent humanitarian aid to combat what Pyongyang has termed its worst drought in 100 years, aggravating dire food shortages.
Tehran and Pyongyang, allies since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution both face economic sanctions over their controversial nuclear program. However the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 (US, Russia, China, France, UK, and Germany) achieved a final accord last month, curbing Iran 's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of most international sanctions.
While political and economic ties between the two countries have remained strong, Tehran says military cooperation halted with the end of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
But US officials suspect Iran's ballistic missile program was born on the back of North Korean technical assistance, according to leaked diplomatic cables dating back to 2010.
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