The Iranian foreign minister travelled to Japan on Monday for the first time since 2019 to meet with his counterpart, with a meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apparently allegedly planned.
Iran’s foreign minister first Japan visit: Although the reason of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s unusual trip to a G7 member state was not made public, rumours suggested that Japan would put pressure on Iran to stop arming Russia.
According to a statement from the Japanese foreign ministry, Amir-Abdollahian will meet with Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Additionally, Amir-Abdollahian would pay Kishida a polite visit, according to TBS, a private broadcaster.
Unnamed government officials told TBS that Japan would bring up the issue of Russian arms exports.
Despite Washington’s tight relations with Tehran, a crucial ally of Tokyo, Tehran and Japan have historically maintained cordial relations.
Due to US economic sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation, Iran used to be a significant oil exporter to resource-scarce Japan, but volumes have dramatically decreased in recent years.
The most recent phone conversation between Hayashi and Amir-Abdollahian took place in April of this year.
In the April meetings, Hayashi reaffirmed Japan’s support for the 2015 nuclear agreement and urged Iran to work with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The trip by Amir-Abdollahian to Japan, which is currently leading the G7, is the first by a senior Iranian official since December 2019 and the first when President Ebrahim Raisi was in office.
In 2015, Iran and six major nations, including Russia and China, formulated a nuclear agreement with the aim of reducing Iran’s nuclear-related activities. The agreement aimed to address concerns that Iran might be developing nuclear weapons.
But while Tehran has increased its nuclear activity, the United States left the agreement under former president Donald Trump, and attempts to resurrect it under President Joe Biden have failed.