:President Rouhani Says in Tokyo
TOKYO (Kayhan Intl.)- Visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday here, urging Japan to pursue stronger relations and to assist the Middle Eastern country, which is suffering under the weight of severe U.S.-imposed economic sanctions.
Rouhani is in Japan for a two-day visit after attending an international conference of Muslim leaders in Malaysia.
"This bilateral relationship has a long history and is very important for our country,” Rouhani told Abe at the outset of the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.
"I hope new concrete steps to promote the bilateral relationship” will be taken, he said, speaking through a translator.
Facing reporters with Rouhani, Abe welcomed the visit, pointing out it marks the 90th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Rouhani became the first Iranian president to visit Japan since 2000, his stay seen as the international outreach to the important Middle Eastern country despite U.S. efforts to isolate it.
The Iranian president inspected a guard of honor along with Abe at the latter’s central Tokyo office before summit talks and a dinner scheduled to last into Friday evening.
Despite being a military ally of the U.S., Japan has traditionally maintained friendly relations with Iran as a major source of energy. In 2017, Iran supplied 5.2 percent of Japan’s crude oil imports.
Iran’s oil exports, however, have been disrupted by unilateral American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Japan also relies on the Middle East for nearly 90% of its oil needs, but tensions have risen to new highs amid U.S. deployment of new troops and military assets to the Persian Gulf.
Rouhani is in Japan for a two-day visit after attending an international conference of Muslim leaders in Malaysia.
"This bilateral relationship has a long history and is very important for our country,” Rouhani told Abe at the outset of the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo.
"I hope new concrete steps to promote the bilateral relationship” will be taken, he said, speaking through a translator.
Facing reporters with Rouhani, Abe welcomed the visit, pointing out it marks the 90th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Rouhani became the first Iranian president to visit Japan since 2000, his stay seen as the international outreach to the important Middle Eastern country despite U.S. efforts to isolate it.
The Iranian president inspected a guard of honor along with Abe at the latter’s central Tokyo office before summit talks and a dinner scheduled to last into Friday evening.
Despite being a military ally of the U.S., Japan has traditionally maintained friendly relations with Iran as a major source of energy. In 2017, Iran supplied 5.2 percent of Japan’s crude oil imports.
Iran’s oil exports, however, have been disrupted by unilateral American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Japan also relies on the Middle East for nearly 90% of its oil needs, but tensions have risen to new highs amid U.S. deployment of new troops and military assets to the Persian Gulf.
The tensions began when President Donald Trump decied last year to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the international nuclear agreement with Iran is officially called.
"The nuclear deal is an extremely important agreement, and we strongly condemn the US withdrawal, which was one-sided and irrational,” Rouhani said in the meeting with Abe.
"We hope that Japan and other countries in the world will make efforts toward maintaining the agreement,” the Iranian president added.
President Rouhani has said that the purpose of his visit to Japan is to discuss the security of the Middle East and calming tensions in the Persian Gulf.
Abe plans to dispatch a Self-Defense Force destroyer and patrol plane to the Middle East. He is expected to explain the dispatch plan to Rouhani to seek a green light from Iran for the operation, Japan Times said.
Abe reportedly plans to send the SDF unit an "independent” mission for "research and investigation,” to the sea off Oman and Yemen and its surrounding areas, not including the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast.
"Japan would like to do its utmost to ease tensions and stabilize the situation in the Middle East,” Abe told Rouhani Friday.
The Japanese prime minister, instead, wants Iran to remain committed to the JCPOA despite the U.S. withdrawal.
"I strongly expect that Iran will fully comply with the nuclear agreement and play a constructive role for peace and stability in the region,” Abe said.
The Islamic Republic has begun scaling back its commitments under the nuclear deal in retaliation for the US withdrawal and sanctions and the failure of the other signatories of the accord to sufficiently support Tehran.
Iran is unhappy with the Europeans for failing to confront the United States and make it abandon its hostile policies toward Tehran.
Whether Japan will be able to create a dramatic about-face in Washington’s confrontation policies time will show.
Abe visited Iran in June, but as he sat down for talks with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, two tankers — one of them operated by a Japanese firm — came under attack in the Gulf of Oman, in what many observers saw an attempt to scuttle the effort.
Nevertheless, Tehran is interested in preserving friendly relations with Tokyo and wants the Asian powerhouse to keep them independent from American pressure.
On Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Japanese reporters that Iran now hopes "the strong bilateral relationship” between Japan and Iran "will be able to overcome pressure” from the United States.
He also said that Tehran hopes the Japanese government and firms in the nation will resume importing oil from Iran, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
But according to a senior Japanese official who briefed reporters later in the day, Rouhani didn’t bring up the topic during the meeting with Abe.
Senior Japanese officials have said Tokyo won’t be able to satisfy Tehran’s wishes as Washington has maintained a tough stance against anyone who defies the sanctions.
"No, we can’t do it when U.S. sanctions are in place,” an official said to reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "As far as we know, no (Japanese) oil wholesalers have bought crude oil from Iran since May this year,” the official added.
Rouhani arrived in Tokyo from Kuala Lumpur where he blasted the U.S. for using sanctions and economic threats to impose its own will on other countries.
Speaking at the opening session of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 on Thursday, he said Muslim nations should join hands to confront America’s "economic terrorism” by enhancing their banking ties and replacing the dollar in their transactions.
Rouhani outlined the numerous challenges facing the Muslim world in the spheres of economy, security culture and identity, warning that such issues are hampering the progress of Islamic nations both at home and on the international stage.
The Muslim world, Rouhani said, should work to "devise measures meant to get rid of the dollar’s dominance and America’s financial system.”
The wars in Syria and Yemen as well as the conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Afghanistan, he said, are the result of the "mixture of domestic extremism and foreign interference”.
Rouhani underscored the need for the Islamic Ummah to tap its vast potential to tackle the problems.
"If we return to our national and Islamic capacities and rely on our internal power, we can turn all those challenges enumerated into an opportunity for progress and development.”
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