Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday as the second stop of his Asian tour and held talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono.
The visit to Japan comes after Zarif's trip to China and meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday. Zarif will leave for for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday as the last leg of the three-nation tour.
According to the 'Malay Mail', after the meeting with Zarif, the Japanese top diplomat told reporters that he had urged Iran to abide by the nuclear deal or better known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during the meeting.
“Based on Japan’s stance of consistently supporting the nuclear agreement, I asked the Iranian side to observe the agreement, to go back immediately to the commitments of the agreement, and to refrain from taking measures that would infringe on the agreement,” Kono said.
His remarks came as the Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, rendering the agreement practically ineffective for the Islamic Republic. Iran has been reducing commitments in a bid to encourage the remaining signatories to comply with their own commitments regarding safeguarding Iran’s economic interests in the face of US sanctions.
The Malaysian news website quoted Kono as adding that the two foreign ministers agreed in the meeting to maintain close communication between Japan and Iran, which historically have had friendly ties, to ease tension between the United States and Iran.
KI/PR
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