North Korea respects Iran's choice of new supreme leader: media report

North Korea supports Iran's new supreme leader while condemning U.S.-Israeli actions as threats to regional peace.

North Korea respects Iran's choice of a new supreme leader, state media said on Wednesday (March 11, 2026), accusing the U.S. and Israel of undermining regional peace.

Pyongyang, a longstanding U.S. adversary, has previously condemned the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran as an "illegal act of aggression".

Defying U.S. President Donald Trump's desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic republic on Sunday (March 8, 2026) named Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, longtime ruler Ali Khamenei, who died in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, 2026.

"We respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader," Pyongyang's unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The official said the United States and Israel are "destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide".

The spokesperson accused Washington and Israel of violating Iran's "political system and territorial integrity", and attempting to "overthrow its social system". Such actions "deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated," the official added.