Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov poses for a photograph at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 21, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

UNITED NATIONS: Russia?s foreign minister said on Friday the leaders of North Korea and the United States should tone down their bellicose rhetoric and warned that a collapse of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers would only embolden Pyongyang.

?The exchange of threats is quite bad, unacceptable,? Sergei Lavrov told reporters at a news conference.? We have to calm down the hot heads,? Lavrov said, adding that he was convinced a Russian-Chinese proposal could still pave the way for a diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis.

Lavrov added that a collapse of the Iran nuclear deal would give North Korea little incentive to drop its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.