Zarif Meets Japanese Counterpart

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sat down for talks with Japan’s Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Speaking in the meeting, Zarif called on the East Asian country to play an active role in restoring stability to West Asia and use its connections with some regional players to urge them to stop backing terrorist entities.

The Iranian minister praised Japan for its contribution to the implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, hoping that Japan will help remove banking obstacles that prevent Iran from reaping economic benefits it is entitled to under the deal.

Kishida said Japan expects Iran to use more of its influence across West Asia and the world to help improve global peace.

Pointing to the nuclear deal, the top Japanese diplomat said his country supports “stable, safe” implementation of the deal and will continue to cooperate with Iran on this path.

In Tokyo, Zarif also took part in a business forum aimed at improving economic cooperation between the two countries’ private sectors.

He also was to meet Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe. Japan was the last leg of a three-nation tour that started on Saturday and took Zarif and an accompanying 38-strong politico-economic delegation to India and China.