President Rouhani made the remark during a Sunday meeting with Kim Yong-nam, who is the president of North Korea’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the Asian country’s unicameral legislature.

Rouhani hoped that negotiations would resume between the two Koreas and that peace and security would prevail in the entire Asia, particularly in its east.

The Korean Peninsula, located in Asia’s Far East, has for long been the scene of hostilities between South and North Koreas. The two countries fought a war in the 1950s. An armistice ended that war, but no peace deal ever ensued, meaning that, while the two Koreas are not at war with each other, they are not at peace, either.

Bitterness emanating from mutual fears of military aggression have been exacerbated by regular provocation from other countries, particularly the United States, which is firmly opposed to North Korean missile and military nuclear programs and has permanent military presence in the region.

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council passed sweeping bans against North Korea meant to slash the country’s exports’ revenue by a third. The sanctions were designed and proposed by the US.

President Rouhani told Kim in their Sunday meeting that all world nations had to be treated with respect and that any meddling in the internal affairs of countries was wrong.

Kim, who had traveled to Iran to attend Rouhani’s inauguration for a second term, congratulated the Iranian president for his reelection and said North Korea sought to expand relations with Iran in all fields, including economic, scientific, and technological areas.