Japan looks to ease US-Iran strain
Print Edition
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani on a visit to Tehran this week, in a bid to ease the tension between Washington and Iran that experts called a bold move for a Japanese leader.
Tension has escalated a year after Washington pulled out of a deal between Iran and global powers to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in return for lifting sanctions.
Abe will depart today for the first visit to Iran by an incumbent Japanese premier in 41 years, although Tokyo and Tehran have friendly ties and mark the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.
He will meet Rouhani today and Khamenei tomorrow, before leaving Tehran.
“Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, we plan to encourage Iran, a regional power, to move toward easing tensions at the top leaders’ meetings,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
On a four-day visit to Japan last month, US President Donald Trump welcomed Abe’s help in dealing with Iran.
Abe is in a unique position, thanks to his close ties to Trump, cultivated since the US leader took office, and Tokyo’s friendly relations with Iran, diplomatic experts said.
“Abe is trying to play the role of messenger and ease the tension,” said Toshihiro Nakayama, a Japanese fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington. “I think it comes from confidence with his personal relations with Trump.”
Japan is keen for stability in the Middle East because it imports the bulk of its oil from the region, although it stopped buying Iranian oil this year because of US sanctions.
“The situation in the region here is highly explosive and extremely serious,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Tehran on Monday. “A dangerous escalation of existing tensions can also lead to a military escalation.”
Maas was the most senior Western official to visit Iran since the new war of words with Washington erupted last month. In his meeting with Maas, Rouhani blamed the US for the soaring tension and called on the European signatories to the deal to “resist the economic war on Iran imposed by America.”
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