Iran Urges Peace in East Asia, Opposes Arms Race
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with prime minister of Japan called for peace and stability in East Asia, warned of arms race, and condemned the employment of weapons of mass destruction, days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan.
“We are opposed to outbreak of any arms race, as in East Asia, and favor stability and peace in the Korean Peninsula,” President Rouhani said in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on Tuesday.
Highlighting Iran’s good relations with Japan, South Korea and China, President Rouhani stressed the need for efforts to ensure calm in East Asia, saying Tehran would spare no effort to promote stability and security across the region.
“Weapons of mass destruction pose a threat to the entire world; we are opposed to the nuclear weapons and to the threats using them, and have explicitly expressed our view,” the Iranian president added.
For his part, the Japanese premier denounced North Korea’s recent move to launch a missile that flew over the Japanese territories, saying the UN Security Council and the international community should unanimously condemn Pyongyang’s actions and press it to change its behavior.
In its latest launch last week, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the capital Pyongyang that flew over northern Japan, drawing strong reactions from its neighbors.
The September 15 launch was the longest ever test flight of a ballistic missile by North Korea.
It followed the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test earlier this month.
