CAIRO, Oct 16 (Aswat Masriya) - Iran condemned on Sunday a recent terrorist attack on an army checkpoint in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula that left 12 security personnel dead, foreign ministry said.

Egypt's armed forces said on Friday that a dozen Egyptian soldiers were killed, and at least six were injured following an attack on a security checkpoint. The army said 15 militants were also killed in the attack.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi condemned the attack and cautioned the world “against rise of terrorism and extremism in the region.”

He urged unity of governments and global commitment against the phenomenon of terrorism, according to a statement issued by the ministry.  

Qasemi expressed condolences to bereaved families of the victims as well as the Egyptian people and government.

“Any type of extremism and terrorism by any country or group around the globe is condemned,” the spokesman added.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since the military ouster of former president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, following mass protests against his rule. North Sinai has been at the epicenter of this insurgency.

According to separate statements by the armed forces over the past year alone, hundreds of suspected militants have been killed and hundreds more arrested in multiple security campaigns launched by the army

Relations between Egypt and Iran have been strained for decades, as Egypt severed its diplomatic relations with Tehran following the country's Islamic revolution in 1979.

During the reign of Mohamed Mursi, relations were partially normalised with Tehran, as the deposed president visited Iran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in August 2012, before his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Cairo in February 2013.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said in April that Egyptian-Iranian relations remain severed.

“We always call on it [Iran] to stop intervening in Arab countries’ internal affairs,” Shukri said.