Tokyo, June 6: Japan is preparing for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official visit to Iran in the near future, the government spokesperson has on Thursday said, although complete details of Abe’s visit are being calculated.
According to Reuters news reports, the PM’s visit would be expected to take place next week, but Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, refused to mention the date or inform whether Abe will meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We will make efforts to make it meaningful,” Suga told a daily media briefing about Abe’s trip to Iran, which would mark the first Japanese PM visiting Iran in over four decades.
The visit has come amidst rising tensions between the United States and Iran, and a year after President Donald Trump pulled America out of a landmark international deal, INF treaty, which aimed to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in return of sanctions relief.
Last week, when the US president has paid an official visit to Japan, he welcomed Abe’s assistance in dealing with Tehran after a Japanese state-run NHK news agency informed Abe was considering to visit Iran.
According to diplomatic experts, Abe’s would most probably achieve to persuade the US and Iran to resume their direct discussions and deescalate tensions in the Middle East.
On the condition of anonymity, an ex-Japanese diplomat said, “The best that Abe can say is to propose to Iran’s Supreme Leader to sit down with the U.S. president without any pre-conditions.”