North Korea's foreign minister on Saturday told the United Nations there was "no way" that his country would disarm first as long as the United States continued to push for tough enforcement of sanctions against Pyongyang.

On Thursday, the United States expanded its sanctions war against Russia to China, for the first time announcing punitive measures against a Chinese military organisation for buying Russian fighter jets and missiles.

State televison showed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei watching drills by navy cadets and contacting the commander of naval forces Iran has sent to the Gulf of Aden.

Kim Jong Un showed off his friendship with China, raising the hand of President Xi Jinping's envoy as they saluted the crowd together afterwards.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday war was unlikely but called on Iran's armed forces to boost their defence capacities.

Iraq will send a delegation to the United States seeking an agreement on financial transactions with Iran following Washington's reimposition of sanctions on Tehran, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday.

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia Monday over the attempted assassination of a former spy in Britain using a lethal nerve agent.

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on four Myanmar military and police commanders and two army units for involvement in what it called "ethnic cleansing" and other human rights abuses against the country's Rohingya Muslims, the Treasury Department said.

Relations between the two Nato allies have plummeted in one of their worst crises in decades after the detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments add to the pressure on President Hassan Rouhani following a collapse in the currency and widespread protests over high prices and corruption.

Russia will further decrease its holdings of US securities in response to new sanctions against Moscow but has no plans to shut down US companies in Russia, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said ...

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday there would be no meeting with the United States in the near future following Washington's reimposition of sanctions.