Japanese PM Abe to stress JCPOA significance in Iran visit

According to Japan Times, he is expected to stress the importance of the international nuclear deal reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1, even as the United States has withdrawn from it and Tehran said last month it would suspend some of its commitments under the accord.

Meanwhile, Spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council said the success of the Japanese prime minister’s visit could be guaranteed if efforts were made to “return the US to the JCPOA and compensate the losses incurred on Iran,” and to “remove the US extraterritorial sanctions on our country."

The Japanese prime minister last met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of UNGA meeting in 2013.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono will also travel to Iran for talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, prior to Abe’s arrival, according to a Japanese government source.

Abe’s trip comes as the countries celebrate their 90th year of diplomatic relations.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Tokyo with Trump in late May, Abe suggested he wants to make efforts to facilitate discussions between Washington and Tehran “so that things will not go wrong and lead to a military clash” in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi has dismissed media speculations that the main aim of Abe's visit is to play an intermediary role between the US and Iran amid heightened tension.

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