The Japanese government hopes to mediate between the United States and Iran to rescue the landmark 2015 international nuclear deal, officials said.

“We note that Iran denies it is withdrawing from the nuclear deal,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura told a news conference on Thursday after Tehran announced the suspension of some of its commitments under the 2015 agreement, Japan Times reported.

“We intend to contribute to regional peace and stability, utilizing our traditional friendly relations with Iran,” Nishimura added.

Tokyo has consistently supported the deal that terminated sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear development activities.

When the US government decided in May last year to withdraw from the accord, Japan acted in concert with European countries and said it would be extremely regrettable if the decision had a significant impact on the maintenance of the deal.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing fresh sanctions to prohibit trade in metals, mainly steel, with Iran. Some Japanese officials say Tokyo should urge Washington to exercise restraint.

Amid heightened military tensions marked by the dispatch of a US carrier strike group to the Middle East, Tokyo is seeking ways to facilitate talks between Iran and the United States.

“Both sides are seeking dialogue,” a Foreign Ministry source said. “There’s a limit, but there’s also a role Japan can play.” </s> DUBAI, June 12 — Iran will ask Japan to mediate between Tehran and Washington to ease oil sanctions imposed by the United States, Iranian officials told Reuters ahead of a visit to Iran by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe, who is the first Japanese leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, arrives in Tehran as heightened tensions between Iran and the United States raise fears of another military conflict in the crisis-hit Middle East.

“Japan can help 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.

Another official said “Mr. Abe can be a great mediator to facilitate that.”

On a four-day visit to Japan last month, US President Donald Trump welcomed Abe’s help in dealing with Iran.

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 programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

Washington tightened sanctions from the start of May, ordering all countries and companies to halt imports of Iranian oil or be banished from the global financial system.

It has also dispatched extra troops to the region to counter what it describes as Iranian threats. — Reuters </s> DUBAI (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned of unintended clashes in the crisis-hit Middle East after meeting the Iranian president in Tehran on Wednesday, amid a brewing confrontation between Iran and the United States.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during a welcome ceremony in Tehran, Iran, June 12, 2019. Official Iranian President website/Handout via REUTERS

As a U.S. 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.

“Armed conflict needs to be prevented at all costs. Peace and stability in the Middle East is indispensable not only for this region but for global prosperity. No one is hoping for war,” the Japanese leader said.

“We would like to play the maximum role we can for easing tension. That is what brought me to Iran,” said Abe, whose two-day visit is the first by a Japanese leader to Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

While Abe did not mention Japan’s currently suspended purchases of Iranian oil, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Japan wants to keep buying Iranian oil.

“In our meeting, Mr. Abe said that Japan was interested in continuing buying Iran’s oil,” Rouhani told a joint news conference with Abe, broadcast live on state TV.

Earlier, two Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran would ask Tokyo to mediate between it and Washington to ease oil sanctions on Iran.

“America should either lift the unjust oil sanctions or extend the waivers or suspend them,” one senior official said.

To slash Iran’s oil exports, Washington has revoked waivers since May that had allowed some countries, including Japan, to continue buying Iranian crude and has effectively ordered countries to stop purchasing Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own.

Despite pushing for imports to continue, Japan has stopped importing oil from Iran for now to avoid U.S. sanctions.

On a visit to Japan last month, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Abe’s help in dealing with Iran, highlighting what he called the “very good relationship” between Tokyo and Tehran.

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.

“Iran will remain committed to the deal, which is important for the security of the region and the world. Tehran and Tokyo both oppose nuclear weapons,” said Rouhani.

TRUMP CRANKS UP PRESSURE ON IRAN

Washington, calling the nuclear deal flawed and seeking to push Iran into new negotiations, intensified sanctions from the start of May, ordering all countries and firms to halt imports of Iranian oil or be banished from the global financial system.

It has also dispatched extra armed forces to the region to counter what it describes as Iranian threats.

Iran has warned against any military aggression.

“Iran will never initiate a war but will give a crushing response to any aggression,” Rouhani said.

“The source of tensions is America’s staged economic war against Iran. As soon as this war ends, we shall see a very positive development in the region and in the world.”

Abe has talked to U.S. regional allies like Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who have supported Trump’s Iran policy.

Iran said in May that after 60 days it would resume its enrichment of uranium beyond the low fissile purity - suitable for civilian nuclear power generation - allowed under the deal, unless other powers stuck to their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

European parties the deal have promised to help Iran find other ways to trade, although with no success so far.

Japan wants to do as much as possible towards peace and stability in the Middle East,” Abe said in Tokyo ahead of his departure, according to Iranian TV.

Slideshow (10 Images)

But just hours before Abe’s visit to Iran, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels carried out a missile attack on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia which wounded 26 people.

The Western-backed, Sunni Muslim alliance that has been battling the Houthis in Yemen said the attack was proof of Tehran’s support for what it called cross-border terrorism.

Abe will also meet the Islamic Republic’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. </s> Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei categorically rejected the possibility of talks between Iran and the US in a meeting with Japan’s prime minister, saying the US president does not merit a response or exchange of messages.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe held a meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran on Thursday morning.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Japanese prime minister said he intended to relay a message to Iran from US President Donald Trump.

In response, Ayatollah Khamenei told Abe, “We have no doubts about your goodwill and seriousness, but with regard to what you relayed from the US president, I see no merit in Trump as a person to deserve the exchange of any messages, and I do not have any answer for him and will not give him any either.”

As regards the Japanese premier’s comments about Trump’s assertion that Washington does not seek a regime change in Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran’s problem with the US does not relate to the issue of regime change, although the US would never achieve such an objective even if it wanted to.

“Trump’s claim that he does not intend to change the regime (in Iran) is a lie, because he would do this if he was able to, but he can’t,” Ayatollah Khamenei underlined.

On the Japanese leader’s message that the US has called for nuclear negotiations with Iran, the Leader said the US once reneged on an agreement that was reached after five to six years of negotiations with the US and Europeans. “So, which wise man would negotiate again with a country that has broken all agreements?”

In response to the Japanese leader’s comments that the US is resolved to prevent Iran from producing nukes, Ayatollah Khamenei underlined, “We are opposed to nuclear weapons and my religious fatwa is that production of nuclear weapons is haram (forbidden), but be mindful that if we ever intended to produce nuclear weapons, the US would not be able to do anything, and the American rejection would not pose any obstacle.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also noted that the US which has a stockpile of thousands of nuclear warheads is in no position to comment about nuclear weapons in the other countries.

In response to Abe’s comments that the US is ready for genuine talks with Iran, the Leader said, “We do not believe it at all, because sincere negotiations would not come from an individual like Trump.”

“Sincerity is very rare among the American officials,” the Leader noted.

Ayatollah Khamenei then stressed that Trump’s move to impose sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical industry immediately after returning from Japan shows that the US president is insincere and does not look for genuine talks.

“We will by no means repeat the bitter experience of negotiations with the US in the past recent years,” Ayatollah Khamenei underscored.

Touching on the US breach of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Leader said, “After the nuclear deal, the first one that violated the JCPOA immediately was (former US President Barack) Obama, the one who had made a request for talks with Iran and had sent a mediator too.”

In reaction to Abe’s message from Trump that negotiations with Washington would contribute to development of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran will be making progress despite the sanctions and without any talks with the US.

The Leader also welcomed the Japanese premier’s call for the expansion of ties with Iran, adding, “Japan is an important country in Asia, and if it is willing to expand relations with Iran, then it should express its decisive determination, in a way that some major countries expressed such determination.”

Denouncing the US hostility towards the Iranian nation over the past forty years, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “We believe that our problems would not be solved through talks with the US, and no free nation would approve of negotiations under pressures.”

The Leader then hailed the Japanese prime minister’s assertion that Americans always seek to impose their thoughts and policies on the other countries, noting, “You had better also know that Americans are not content with any limit in imposing their stances.”

For his part, Abe expressed the hope that his political negotiations in Tehran would pave the way for the promotion of cooperation between Iran and Japan.

Abe arrived in Tehran on Wednesday and became the first Japanese leader to visit Iran in more than 4 decades.

In a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday evening, Abe said the main purpose of his trip to Iran is to ease the tensions, and expressed hope that his visit would result in the reduction of tensions and establishment of peace in the region. </s> DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will ask Japan to mediate between Tehran and Washington to ease oil sanctions imposed by the United States, Iranian officials said ahead of a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe, the first Japanese leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, arrives in Tehran as 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.

On a four-day visit to Japan last month, U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

Washington, calling the nuclear deal flawed and seeking to push Iran into new negotiations, intensified sanctions from the start of May, ordering all countries and firms to halt imports of Iranian oil or be banished from the global financial system.

It has also dispatched extra armed forces to the region to counter what it describes as Iranian threats.

Iran threatened in May that in 60 days it would resume enrichment of uranium beyond the low fissile purity - suitable for civilian nuclear power generation - allowed under the deal, unless other powers signed up to it found a way to protect Iran’s oil and banking industries from U.S. sanctions.

European parties of the deal have promised to help Iran find other ways to trade, although with no success so far. All major European companies that had announced plans to invest in Iran have since called them off for fear of U.S. punishment.

Abe was to hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday afternoon following his arrival in Tehran, and on Thursday will meet the Islamic Republic’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Japan wants to do as much as possible toward peace and stability in the Middle East,” Abe said in Tokyo, ahead of his departure, according to Iranian TV.

To achieve his aim of slashing Iran’s oil exports to zero, the Trump administration has revoked waivers since May that had allowed some countries, including Japan, to continue buying Iranian crude and has effectively ordered countries to stop purchasing Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own.

Despite pushing for imports to continue, Japan has stopped importing oil from Iran for now to avoid U.S. sanctions. </s> Japan's Abe heads to Iran in hopes to help ease tension

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has headed to Iran on a closely watched trip, saying he hoped to help ease tension in the Middle East.

Abe told reporters Wednesday that he wants to do as much as he could to secure peace and stability in the region.

Tension has intensified since Washington has withdrawn from a nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers and re-imposed sanctions.

Abe, the first Japanese leader visiting Iran in 41 years, will hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his three-day visit.

Japan maintains friendly ties with both Tehran and Washington and hopes to serve as mediator, a task experts say is difficult.

Japan imports its oil mostly from the Middle East and considers its stability crucial. </s> On Historic Visit To Iran, Japan's Abe Hopes To Play Role Of Mediator With U.S.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to arrive in Iran on Wednesday to begin a historic trip to the Middle Eastern country where he is expected to try to mediate escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Abe's two-day visit is the first to Iran for a Japanese premier since Takeo Fukuda in 1978.

Speaking at Tokyo's Haneda Airport just before departing, Abe acknowledged "rising tensions" in the Middle East and said, "Japan wants to do as much as possible towards peace and stability in the region."

During his visit, Abe plans to meet separately with Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

At a news conference in Tokyo, Japan's Chief Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Abe had spoken by telephone for about 20 minutes on Tuesday with President Trump and that the two leaders had "exchanged views on regional issues, including the situation in Iran."

Relations between the U.S. and Iran have been particularly strained since Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), re-imposed sanctions on Tehran and dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region.

Although specifics of Tuesday's conversation between Abe and Trump were not made public, The Japan Times reports that "Abe is likely to have reiterated his intention of encouraging Iran, with which Japan has traditionally maintained friendly relations, to engage in dialogue."

In a joint news conference with President Trump in Tokyo last month, Abe pledged to do whatever he could to mediate.

Japan had relied heavily on Iranian oil, but has cut imports to comply with U.S. sanctions.

Reuters, quoting unnamed Iranian officials, said Iran plans to ask Abe to mediate with the U.S. to ease those sanctions.

Although Tokyo and Tehran have long enjoyed close relations, Tokyo's strong ties with the U.S. have raised concern among conservatives in Iran.

In a reference to the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II, one hard line newspaper in Iran, Farheekhtegan, or Educated, published a photo of a mushroom cloud with the headline "How Can You Trust a War Criminal, Mr. Abe?" </s> Washington [US], June 14 (ANI): President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the United States and Iran are not ready to strike a deal to end their longstanding conflict.

He also praised Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who has offered to broker a deal between Tehran and Washington.

"While I very much appreciate PM Abe going to Iran to meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, I personally feel that it is too soon to even think about making a deal. They are not ready, and neither are we!" Trump tweeted.

This comes hours after two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, raising tensions in the region.

Abe has just completed his two-day visit to Iran, becoming the first sitting Japanese premier to visit the country since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. While talking to reporters, Abe on Wednesday said that helping to ease tension in the region was "the one single thought that brought me to Iran", reported Al Jazeera. 

The United States has blamed Iran for the recent attack.

"The attack on two oil tankers on June 13 was one in a list of Iranian and Iranian-backed attacks over the last month. It was a clear threat to peace, security and freedom of navigation," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a media briefing.

"The US will defend its force, interests, partners and allies. We call upon all nations threatened to join us in that endeavour," he added.

Tensions have escalated in the already simmering region. The US and Iran are at loggerheads since President Donald Trump's decision in May 2018 to withdraw from a landmark nuclear deal.

Following this, the US slapped a multitude of sanctions on Iran, citing the latter's support to state-sponsored terrorism and conflicts.

The historic 2015 deal between Iran and world powers including the EU and the US, offered sanctions relief to Iran for scaling back its nuclear programme.

The US has remained rooted to its stand, saying it would continue to "impose maximum pressure" against Iran till the regime gives up its "destabilising ambitions" of expanding its nuclear programme.

Washington recently announced that no fresh sanction waivers will be issued for Iranian oil imports to eight countries, including India. (ANI) </s> FILE – In this Jan. 22, 2014 file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, attend a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Abe’s trip to Tehran on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, represents the highest-level effort yet to de-escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The visit comes as Iran appears poised to break the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers that America earlier abandoned. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to Tehran represents the highest-level effort yet to de-escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran as the country appears poised to break the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers that America earlier abandoned.

But while Abe’s trip to Iran marks the first visit of a sitting Japanese premier in the 40 years since the Islamic Revolution, it remains unclear if he’ll end up going home with any success.

Iran is threatening to resume enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade level on July 7 if European allies fail to offer it new terms. While President Donald Trump says he wants to talk to Tehran, the U.S. has piled on sanctions that have seen Iran’s rial currency plummet along with its crucial oil exports.

The U.S. also has sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region, along with hundreds more troops to back up the tens of thousands already deployed across the Middle East. The U.S. blames Iran for a mysterious attack on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, while Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen continue to launch coordinated drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The stakes, analysts say, couldn’t be higher.

“Just going to Iran doesn’t resolve any problem,” said Kazuo Takahashi, an Open University of Japan professor of international politics and expert on the Middle East. “He would have to help open a path of dialogue between the U.S. and Iran, and that could be a major risk.”

Iran’s nuclear deal, agreed to at the time by China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the U.S., saw Tehran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. Western powers feared Iran’s atomic program could allow it to build nuclear weapons, although Iran long has insisted its program was for peaceful purposes.

In withdrawing from the deal last year, Trump pointed to the accord not limiting Iran’s ballistic missile program and not addressing what American officials describe as Tehran’s malign influence across the wider Mideast. Those who struck the deal at the time described it as a building block toward further negotiations with Iran, whose Islamic government has had a tense relationship with America since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and subsequent hostage crisis.

Trump spoke Tuesday with Abe, said Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary. Suga declined to give any details about what they discussed. Abe also in recent days spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, all of whom are fierce critics of Iran.

“Taking into account the current status of rising tension in the Middle East, we hope to ease tensions through leader-level talks with Iran, a regional powerhouse,” Suga said.

Middle East peace is a must for Japan, which gets most of the oil fueling its economy from there. Japan had once purchased Iranian oil, but it has now stopped because of American sanctions. Recent threats from Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth through which a third of all oil traded by sea passes, has raised concerns.

Abe is scheduled to see Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate within Iran’s Shiite theocracy, as well as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Already though, Iran says it quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium. Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency that monitors Iran’s nuclear deal, acknowledged Monday that Tehran has increased its production. However, Amano said he hadn’t spoken recently with Abe.

Meanwhile, U.S. sanctions have cut off opportunities for Iran to trade its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, putting Tehran on course to violate terms of the nuclear deal regardless.

Hard-liners within Iran already have dismissed Abe’s trip.

“Just like the nuclear deal . helped improved the country’s economy, visits by people such as the Japanese prime minister will improve the livelihood of the people,” the hard-line Kayhan newspaper sarcastically offered in an editorial Tuesday.

It remains unlikely Iran will want to engage in direct talks with the U.S. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, an American-educated diplomat key in negotiating the nuclear deal, openly threatened the U.S. during a news conference Monday with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

“Mr. Trump himself has announced that the U.S. has launched an economic war against Iran,” Zarif said. “The only solution for reducing tensions in this region is stopping that economic war.”

Zarif also warned: “Whoever starts a war with us will not be the one who finishes it.”

However, Iran on Tuesday did release U.S. permanent resident Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese-born internet advocate imprisoned for years in Tehran on internationally criticized spying charges. Zakka had done contract work for the State Department.

And overall, Iran risks little in inviting Abe to the country, said Henry Rome, an analyst with the Eurasia Group.

“Khamenei and Rouhani get to show the beleaguered population that despite extreme economic pressure, top world leaders are still willing to visit Iran,” Rome wrote Monday. “And Tehran can probe for opportunities to expand its trade relationship with Tokyo, although options are quite limited.”

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed.
Japan offers to mediate between Iran and the U.S.; officials say the Japanese government hopes to rescue the landmark 2015 international nuclear deal.