Abe Mulling June Visit to Iran

EghtesadOnline: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a visit to Iran in June for talks with Iranian officials to help ease escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, government sources said on Friday.

News ID: ۷۴۷۴۱۴

25 May 2019

Abe is expected to make a final decision after consulting with US President Donald Trump who is scheduled to arrive in Japan as a state guest on Saturday, Kyodo News reported.

Abe would be the first sitting Japanese prime minister to visit Iran since Takeo Fukuda in 1978.

As Japan has traditionally maintained amicable ties with Iran, Abe hopes to encourage Tehran to keep its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal despite the remaining parties’ failure to ensure its interests after the US pullout, according to the sources, according to Financial Tribune.

Abe expressed concerns about the US-Iran standoff, but offered to work with Tehran during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in Tokyo last week.