Although North Korea and Iran are thousands of kilometers apart on opposite sides of Eurasia, they are linked — directly as well as indirectly — in the North Korean crisis.
Iran's nuclear and long-range ballistic missile ambitions are silent actors in the confrontation between North Korea and a wide range of countries in the international community, including the United States, China and Russia.
All these countries, and many others including Japan, have condemned Pyongyang's threats to launch nuclear and missile attacks on the U.S. and American bases in Japan and the Western Pacific.