- North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador has warned that nuclear war could break out imminently, following months of tension with the United States
- Any such fallout would have drastic consequences for the Middle East given the heavy involvement of both sides in the region
- Syria, a key North Korean ally allegedly holds nuclear material, while it is thought that Iran also has the capabilities to manufacture nuclear weapons
- Israel has refused to confirm or deny allegations that it holds nuclear weapons, however, the country is thought to hold at least 80 weapons.
North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador has warned that nuclear war could break out imminently, a decision which could have wide-ranging consequences for the Middle East region.
Speaking in front of the United Nations General Assembly's disarmament committee, Kim In Ryong criticized global sanctions against North Korea and said that the country should be allowed to possess nuclear weapons for self-defense purposes.
The diplomat also claimed that Washington is staging a "secret operation aimed at the removal of our supreme leadership."
"The entire U.S. mainland is within our firing range and if the U.S. dares to invade our sacred territory even an inch it will not escape our severe punishment in any part of the globe," he told delegates.
"Unless the hostile policy and the nuclear threat of the U.S. is thoroughly eradicated, we will never put our nuclear weapons and ballistic rockets on the negotiating table under any circumstances," Kim said.
However, a North Korean defector has said that Pyongyang can not afford a nuclear conflict as a result of tough global sanctions.
“The sanctions that the White House has imposed on North Korea are of a historic level,” said Ri Jong-ho.
“Never before has the country faced such tough sanctions. I don’t know if North Korea will survive a year with these sanctions. People will die.”
The comments come as nuclear tensions increase between the United States and North Korea, a move which many believe could cause all-out nuclear war which could cause chaos globally, including the Middle East.
Many countries in the region have a complicated relationship with both the U.S. and North Korea and some within the Middle East enjoy favorable relations with both countries.
Earlier this year, reports emerged showing that U.N. states had intercepted two North Korean shipments destined for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Centre.
The center allegedly controls the country’s chemical weapons program.
A U.N. report in August read: “The [security council] panel is investigating reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile, and conventional arms cooperation between Syria and the DPRK [North Korea]. Two member states interdicted shipments destined for Syria.”
The two countries have enjoyed strong relations for decades and reports suggest that North Korea is among the largest benefactors from the Syrian civil war.
There is also evidence that the Syrian regime has the capability to produce nuclear weapons if needed.
Israel conducted an airstrike on what U.S. officials alleged was the construction site of a nuclear research reactor in Syria in 2007.
A probe found traces of undeclared man-made uranium particles at the site of the destroyed facility.
Syria refused cooperated with the IAEA to clarify the nature of the facility.
Battle-hardened Damascus may become a key player in any global nuclear conflict between the U.S. and North Korea.
Bashar al-Assad’s allies in Moscow are also known to hold up to 7,000 nuclear weapons, according to the Arms Control Association.
Russia has scaled back co-operation with North Korea in recent weeks but this may change in the outbreak of a global nuclear war.
Meanwhile, Bashar al Assad’s other key regional ally, Iran has also spent huge financial sums buying weapons from North Korea as far back as the 1980s.
Tehran has repeatedly denied that it is building nuclear weapons and instead claims that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency found in 2003 that Iran had undertaken covert nuclear activities to establish the capacity to produce fissile material.
The agency said that there were no indications of weaponization activities taking place after that date.
However, many, including Israel speculate that while Iran does not currently hold weapons, the country does have the technology to build a nuclear arsenal within a short time frame.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal as relations grow tense between the two countries.
"As I have said many times, the Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into," Trump said in a speech.
"We cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran's nuclear breakout," he added.
The news follows a campaign promise by Trump that he would scrap the nuclear deal altogether.
Pyongyang's close allies in China also enjoy significant economic influence in the Middle East and North Africa, a fact which may influence the position of Middle Eastern states in the outbreak of war.
The situation becomes even more complex with U.S. allies who have spent millions buying weapons from North Korea.
- Egypt's El-Sisi Caught Buying Grenades from North Korea's Kim Jong Un
- America’s Middle East Allies May Be Funding North Korea’s Nuclear Tests
In 2015, the UAE spent $100 million on weapons which would later be used to bomb Yemen, according to a leaked US State Department memo, seen by the Gulf Affairs Institute.
The document showed that U.S. officials even warned that North Korea would use the cash to further its nuclear arms program.
However the deal, which included a shipment of rockets, machine guns and rifles was finalized within weeks, according to the leak.
The UAE has cut diplomatic ties with North Korea in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Egypt is also infamous for ties with the regime in Pyongyang. Last month, the United States froze a $300million aid package destined for Egypt.
Many analysts believe that the move was a signal to the Egyptian regime that The White House will no longer tolerate the country’s close ties with Pyongyang.
The two countries have enjoyed long-standing economic, diplomatic and military partnership dating back to the 1970s and Egypt is now one of North Korea’s leading trade partners in the region.
Economic and military ties remain strong between both countries thanks to weapons deals and the use of the Suez canal to transport military shipments between North Korea and other trading partners in the region.
Egyptian-owned Orascom was also commissioned to build North Korea’s state-owned 3G cell phone network and Cairo has provided North Korea with much needed hard currency in exchange for training Egyptian scientists in weapons technology.
However, the U.S. also has a nuclear ally in the region in the form of the Zionist state.
“Israel has not publicly conducted a nuclear test, does not admit or deny having nuclear weapons, and states that it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East,” according to the Arms Control Association.
The country believed to possess around 80 nuclear arms alongside the material to create many more.
While no Middle East country officially possesses nuclear warheads, there are many including the Gulf States, Iran, Syria and Egypt who hold strong ties to either or both the United States and North Korea.
Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that diplomacy would continue “until the first bomb drops.”
However, what any such bomb would mean for the major states in the MENA region remains to be seen.
