Kerry says tough response to Pyongyang's nuclear test would send Iran 'strong message'

New York - US Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed tough response to North Korea's nuclear test would send a strong message to Iran, which is also under scrutiny over its uranium enrichment program,

Kerry said nations must agree on a swift, clear, strong and credible response to Pyongyang's third nuclear test and the authoritarian regime's continued flaunting of its obligations, the NY Post reports.

In defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, the latest issued last month, North Korea on Tuesday detonated a nuclear device at a remote underground site, and it is seen as a key step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States, the paper said.

Iran, like North Korea, is also under firm sanctions, and negotiations with the West over its nuclear program have similarly stalled.

Iran maintains the program is peaceful, for generating energy and for medical research, not for weapons.

However, Kerry said it is important for the world to have credibility with respect to our nonproliferation efforts.

Kerry added just as it's impermissible for North Korea to pursue this kind of reckless effort, so they have said it's impermissible with respect to Iran, adding what their response is with respect to this will have an impact on all other nonproliferation efforts.

The UN Security Council has issued three separate resolutions on North Korea, in response to its nuclear and missile tests since 2006.