Iran to ask Japan’s Abe to mediate over US oil sanctions: officials
DUBAI - Iran will ask Japan to mediate between Tehran and Washington to ease oil sanctions imposed by the United States, Iranian officials said on Wednesday, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the country for a two-day visit. Abe, the first Japanese leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, landed in Tehran as a brewing confrontation between Iran and the United States stokes fear of another military conflict in the crisis-ridden Middle East. “Japan can help in easing the ongoing tension between Iran and America... As a goodwill gesture, America should either lift the unjust oil sanctions or extend the waivers or suspend them,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters. Iranian state TV broadcast live footage of Abe’s arrival, saying he will later hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani and today will meet the Islamic Republic’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On a four-day visit to Japan last month, US President Donald Trump welcomed Abe’s help in dealing with Iran, highlighting what he called the “very good relationship” between Tokyo and Tehran.
As a US ally that also has good diplomatic relations with Iran, Japan could be in a unique position to mediate between the Islamic Republic and the United States. “Mr. Abe can be a great mediator to facilitate that (easing of oil sanctions). Japan has always respected Iran, and Mr. Abe can play a very constructive role to calm the ongoing tension that can harm the (Middle East) region,” said another Iranian official, who asked not to be named. Strains between Washington and Tehran have sharply increased in recent weeks, a year after the United States abandoned a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
(Reuters)