Foreign minister visits Tehran: Japan calls on Iran to adhere to nuclear deal

Foreign minister visits Tehran: Japan calls on Iran to adhere to nuclear deal

TEHRAN — Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida urged Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday to hold up his country’s end of a nuclear agreement with six world powers.

     At the beginning of their talks here, Rouhani said economic relations between Iran and Japan have faltered amid Western sanctions but that he expects cooperation to expand. He extended Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an invitation to visit Iran, to which Kishida said Abe is ready to come at an appropriate time.

     Kishida and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, agreed Monday to sign a bilateral investment pact, which will set ground rules for Japanese investment in Iran. Abe’s government will seek parliamentary approval for the treaty during the legislative session beginning in January.

     “Western sanctions on Iran will have been lifted by the time the pact is approved by the Diet,” a Japanese government source said.

     Before sitting down with Rouhani, Kishida met with Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, minister of industry, mines and trade. Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh, whom Kishida met with Monday, urged Japan to return imports of Iranian oil and gas to pre-sanctions levels and expressed hope for Japanese investment in his country’s energy sector.

     Japanese companies, some of which sent representatives to accompany Kishida here, are keen on doing business in this resource-rich nation of 78 million people.

     “We expect to see considerable demand for capital spending once the sanctions are lifted,” said Makoto Fusayama, Toyo Engineering chairman.

     Takahisa Miyauchi, senior executive vice president of trading house Mitsubishi Corp., welcomed the progress toward the investment pact, which will allow Japan “to discuss investment protection openly with the Iranian side.”

     “Having a certain level of protection,” an automotive industry executive said, “will make the Iranian market easier to navigate.”

Foreign minister visits Tehran: Japan calls on Iran to adhere to nuclear deal