TEHRAN – Foreign Ministry Spokesman while slamming the use of nuclear weapons dismissed as “rash” and “far from reality” any media rumors about cooperation between Iran and North Korea.

Bahram Qasemi made the remarks in his weekly press conference on Monday, adding “North Korea’s recent nuclear tests have caused some amount of concern on the international scene, but the remarks by some media about cooperation between Iran and North Korea are completely rash and far from reality. Iran has had no cooperation with North Korea in this regard and our position on the use of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction is completely clear.”

About the possibility of U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, he said “JCPOA is not a bilateral agreement but an international one; if any party to the deal fails to comply with their commitments, they will have to pay a heavy price.”

“Iran will not be the first to violate the nuclear deal, but will have an appropriate response toward any side that undermines it,” he stressed.

He went on to say that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and the continuation of foreign military presence in the country will further complicate the situation.

Qasemi said that all of Afghanistan’s neighbors had to strive toward facilitating stability in the country.

He said countries interested in seeing calm in Afghanistan had to reduce their meddling there and allow the Afghan people to determine their own fate through dialog.

About the planned independence referendum of the Iraqi Kurdish Region on Sept. 25, Qasemi said “we would like to see the continuation of talks between Erbil and Baghdad, and hopefully the negotiations will yield positive results and Iraq’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty will be preserved.”

He went on to add, “Iran has good relations with the Kurds and other ethnic groups in Iraq and will try to use this capacity to prevent some destructive crises in the region.”

Qasemi was asked about the recent publication of documents showing that Saudi Arabia may have been involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Without naming Saudi Arabia, he said the 9/11 matter was clear and “a certain country” was accused of involvement in the attacks. He said he hoped that justice would be served and that no such attacks would ever occur again.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Qasemi said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had now been scheduled to travel to New York for an annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Asked about whether Zarif would meet with P5+1 foreign ministers, Qasemi said the Foreign Ministry was currently planning meetings that are necessary.

A reporter asked Qassemi about the recent anti-Iran remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He replied that Iranophobia had turned into a worn-out tactic and was being used as a tool for the pursuance of political goals by certain countries in the region.

Iranian influence in the region is an obvious and natural thing, he said.