US Secretary of State John Kerry today called for a swift, clear and strong response to North Korea's "highly provocative" nuclear test to send Iran a message that the world is serious about nonproliferation.        

"North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program are a threat now to the United States of America because of what they are pursuing, specifically, as well as to global security and peace...The international community now needs to come together with a swift and clear, strong, credible response, as pledged in the UN Security Council Resolution 2087," Kerry told reporters.        

"So my message about this is really simple, that this is not only about the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea -- or North Korea) and its continued flaunting of its obligations under three separate UN Security Council resolutions; this is about proliferation," he said, adding that this is also about Iran.        

"They're linked. You connect the dots. It is important for the world to have credibility with respect to our nonproliferation efforts. Just as it is impermissible for North Korea to pursue this kind of reckless effort, so we have said it is impermissible with respect to Iran.