Japan will continue to import as much Iranian crude oil as it needs, the Japanese ambassador to Tehran was quoted by Iranian media on Sunday as saying.

 

Japan has been put under pressure to reduce its use of Iranian crude by the United States which has imposed tough sanctions against Iran's energy and banking sectors.

 

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said last week that Tokyo and Washington were close to an agreement for Japan to reduce its Iranian oil imports.

 

But Japanese ambassador Kinichi Kumano said Japan hopes to continue its economic, political and cultural relations with Tehran, despite the sanctions, Reuters reported.

 

"The Islamic Republic of Iran remains one of Japan's key crude oil suppliers," the Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted Kinichi Kumano as saying.

 

"The Japanese government is committed to developing relations in other areas, in cultural spheres and it doesn't see obstacles to scientific collaboration either."

 

OPEC's second-largest oil exporter accounted for 8.8 percent of Japan's total oil imports in 2011, but the daily volume of Iranian crude it imported fell about 16 percent from the first half to the second half of last year.

 

Pressure to reduce Iranian oil buying comes as Japanese utilities are increasing overall fossil fuel imports in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011.

 

Washington has exerted increasing pressure on its allies not to buy Iranian crude, saying that companies who continue to do so will be banned from doing business in the United States. Indian and Chinese officials have said they will not reduce imports.

 

In January, the European Union announced its boycott against the Iranian oil industry and has given member states until July to find alternative suppliers.

 

But, Japanese Ambassador to Iran Kinichi Kumano says Japan will proceed to purchase Iranian oil despite Western-led oil embargo against Tehran over its nuclear energy program.

 

“Contrary to some reports, the Islamic Republic of Iran remains as one of Japan’s key crude suppliers as before,” said Kumano in a Sunday interview with IRNA.

 

The Japanese envoy praised the 81-year-oil diplomatic ties between Tehran and Tokyo and insisted that despite Western pressures against Iran’s nuclear energy program, Japan is determined to continue its mutual relations with Tehran in political, economic, and cultural spheres.

 

The remarks come as U.S.-led sanctions on Iran over its peaceful nuclear activities attempt to make it difficult for refiners around the world, including in Japan, to purchase Iranian crude or pay Tehran for its oil, PressTV repoterd.

 

On December 31, 2011, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran to penalize other countries for importing the country’s oil. The European Union also imposed similar sanctions on January 23 to ban Iran's oil imports by member states.

 

Iran is the fourth-biggest crude supplier to Japan and the Iranian crude accounted for 8.8 percent of Japan's total imports in 2011.

 

The US, Israel and some of their allies have been accusing Tehran of seeking military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

 

(Source:agencies)