The "shared understanding" between South Korea and Iran in support of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula sent a strong warning to North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, urging Pyongyang to renounce its nuclear ambitions.

In a press conference after his summit with President Park Geun-hye in Tehran on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the Islamic republic is "in principle opposed to any nuclear development." His remarks were seen as indicating Tehran's stance against Pyongyang's nuclear armament.

"We believe that the message that Iran, a traditional partner of North Korea, sent at a leadership level probably communicated a strong warning to the North," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said during a regular press briefing.

"It is very meaningful that Iran staked out its position regarding the nuclear issue and our pursuit of a peaceful reunification," he added.

Pointing to a joint statement over a comprehensive bilateral partnership that included the two countries' commitments to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty  and denuclearization, Cho said that the statement "circuitously" criticized the North's persistent argument that it cannot help but develop nuclear arms due to the U.S.' hostile policy toward it.

"The North should pay heed to the message sent from the South Korea-Iran summit and stop its reckless provocations, and take a path toward denuclearization and development for the livelihoods of its own people based on the Iranian case -- in which Iran opted to cooperate with the international community and change," he said.

The summit between the two countries came amid growing speculation that Pyongyang might conduct another nuclear test ahead of its key party congress -- slated to begin Friday -- to show off the country's military capabilities and bolster North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's leadership.(Yonhap)