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Oil, nukes, Trump and North Korea on Shinzo Abe’s agenda as Japan sets date for Iran visit
- The Japanese prime minister is heading to Iran mid-June
- He will act as a go-between for Washington and Tehran
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The Japanese government has tentatively set aside three days from June 12 for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit Iran, a trip that Tokyo hopes will help bridge some of Tehran’s differences with Washington but also burnish Abe’s image as a global statesman.
The US has been locked in a spiralling diplomatic dispute with Iran since President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral agreement to freeze Tehran’s nuclear programme and reimposed economic sanctions in November. As part of those sanctions, Japan is no longer able to import much-needed oil from Iran.
Discussions on Abe acting as a go-between for Washington and Tehran have been under way for weeks, thanks to Tokyo’s close diplomatic ties with both sides, but significant progress was made when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Japan in mid-May.
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It is not clear whether Iran or Japan first proposed that Abe act as mediator, but the suggestion was acceptable to both sides – although Japan flatly denied over the following days that any such plan was being considered out of concern that Washington would react negatively before Abe could speak with Trump in person.
The Japanese leader received Trump’s seal of approval during the president’s recent four-day state visit to Japan.
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