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Asia/ Diplomacy

Japan PM Shinzo Abe to meet Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on trip to help ease US tensions

  • The visit is aimed at helping encourage dialogue with the US and ease tensions
  • The visit will be the first by an incumbent Japanese prime minister since 1978
Shinzo Abe will also meet Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani (right) before meeting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: EPA

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later this month with Tokyo hoping to mediate between Washington and Tehran, a report said Sunday.

As tensions intensify between Iran and Japan’s key ally the United States, Abe has reportedly proposed serving as a go-between and is said to be weighing up a state visit to Iran.

According to the Mainichi newspaper report, Abe’s planned meeting with influential Khamenei will be the first such talks between a Japanese premier and Tehran’s supreme leader.

US President Donald Trump said last week he remained open to talks with Tehran during his state visit to Tokyo, appearing to have given the green light to Abe’s plan.

Abe will also meet Iran’s president Hassan Rowhani before meeting Khamenei during his tour to Iran from June 12 to 14, the newspaper said, citing unnamed government sources.

Before Trump flew to Japan, the United States had announced it was sending 1,500 extra troops to the region, adding to the aircraft carrier group and nuclear-capable bomber planes already dispatched.

Trump himself threatened “the official end” of the country if Tehran ever attacked US interests.

But last Monday in Tokyo, Trump offered assurances that he can live with the Islamic republic’s government, whose toppling has long been a dream for Washington hardliners.

Shinzo Abe has been setting himself up as an intermediary between the US and Iran amid mounting strains between the two countries, a position that US President Donald Trump has indicated he supports. Photo: Reuters
Shinzo Abe has been setting himself up as an intermediary between the US and Iran amid mounting strains between the two countries, a position that US President Donald Trump has indicated he supports. Photo: Reuters

“We’re not looking for regime change,” Trump said, explaining that he only cared about Iran not achieving nuclear power status.

“I do believe that Iran would like to talk, and if they’d like to talk, we’d like to talk also,” Trump added, striking a relatively dovish tone on Iran.

Khamenei has likened negotiations with the Trump administration to “poison” since “they don’t stand by anything”, referring to Washington’s withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal signed by Tehran and world powers.

Japan and Iran have kept a good relationship as resource-poor Japan relies heavily on imports of oil from the Middle East, though crude from Iran accounted for just 5.3 per cent of the country’s total imports last year.

Rowhani meanwhile said that Tehran would not be “bullied” into negotiations with the United States and laid down the Islamic republic’s conditions.

“We are men of reason and negotiation … if one sits at the negotiating table with total respect and in the framework of international law,” Rowhani said, quoted by the government’s website.

“We have shown that we do not submit to bullying and covetous powers,” he said.

Rowhani has repeatedly ruled out negotiations unless Washington lifts sanctions against the Islamic republic and returns to the 2015 nuclear deal signed by Tehran and world powers.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg