Investment Pact With Japan in Jan.

Japan is preparing to sign an investment deal with Iran in January.  A Japanese government official told NHK that the two sides are now at the final stage of working out the details of the agreement. The official said the two countries plan to hold a signing ceremony in Japan. The document will be submitted to an ordinary session of the Diet—Japan’s bicameral legislature—in January. The pact will take effect after Japanese lawmakers approve it and the Iranian side completes the procedures. The pact is expected to help Japanese companies make inroads into the Iranian market. The foreign ministers of Japan and Iran agreed in October to sign the deal.