The President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, is set to visit Japan around 20 December. (Image via CNBC.com)

Iran's President Rouhani to visit Japan on 20 Dec

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Politics & Economic
News Flash Japan
Dec 17, 2019
2573
On Monday, The President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, had made up his mind to visit Japan. According to the Iranian government’s official, the visit is most likely to take place on the upcoming Friday (20/12).

The visit will be the first by an Iranian president since 2000, done by the 5th President of Iran, Mohammad Khatami.

Reported by the Japanese and Iranian news agencies, Rouhani will visit Japan after he attended the Islamic leader summit in Malaysia. The summit itself will be held from 19 to 21 December. About 450 Islamic leaders, scholars, and figures from 52 countries will attend the summit.

When being asked about what agenda will the President cover, the Iranian government’s spokesman, Ali Rabiei, said that the state visit will cover economic topics, expanding the economic relations between Japan and Iran.

While for the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, the meeting will cover two main agendas: issues & development in two countries and the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA). In 2018, the U.S withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed rounds of sanctions on Iran, leading to conflicts between the two countries.

Rabiei pointed out that although Japan is an ally to the United States (U.S), Rouhani’s visit to Japan has nothing to do with the negotiation with the U.S. But, Rabiei added that if Tokyo would like to relay a message from Washington to Tehran, Iran welcomes it but will examine it “carefully”.

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Mousavi, said that it is natural for Rouhani to visit Japan after Abe’s June visit. In June, Abe visited Tehran to relay messages and demands from its U.S ally to alleviate the choking tension in the Gulf.

Japan is known to be one of the “bridges” between Iran and the U.S. On 9 December, Abe planned to invite Rouhani for a state visit to Tokyo. Therefore, Abe said that easing tensions between Washington and Tehran is one of his goals.

Japan once was a major buyer of Iran’s crude oil. However, due to the sanction imposed by the U.S in 2018, Japan stopped buying from Iran.

Source: https://bit.ly/36LgqTR

Politics , International , Bilateral , Visit , Asia , Japan , Middle-East , Iran , Oil , Shinzo-Abe , Hassan-Rouhani , Economy , Trade