TEHRAN- Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, has described the U.S. renege on the Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as well as imposition of secondary sanctions as the main obstacles to the development of relations between Iran and Japan.

“However, the existence of some issues caused by the secondary sanctions, there are clear opportunities for the development of cooperation between two countries,” Kharrazi said in a meeting with Japan’s ambassador to Tehran Aikawa Kazutoshi on Monday.

Kharrazi also outlined the importance of developments in the Far East region and the ramifications of the war in Ukraine on the West Asia region, saying that the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations has considered the increase in military and defensive movements of regional and extra-regional countries in Japan’s periphery and the possibility of military conflicts in the future. 

In response to Kharrazi’s remarks, the Japanese ambassador explained his country’s position on the Ukraine war and the possible consequences of the crisis for Japan and its surrounding environment.

Pointing to the territorial dispute between his country and Russia, he said that with the instigation of the Ukraine war, Russia has halted the bilateral negotiations with Japan regarding the occupation of the Kuril Islands. 

Kharrazi stressed that as a matter of principle, Tehran is against any military intervention and violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries.

Additionally, he said that the best way to resolve the territorial disputes between Japan and Russia over the four islands is through negotiation. 

After World War II, Russia annexed the Kuril Islands to its territory, but Japan calls these islands the Northern Territory and considers them “occupied by Russia.”

Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexey Dedov was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday over a joint Russian-Arab statement that called into question Iranian sovereignty over its islands in the Persian Gulf.

Russia and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries issued the statement after a round of strategic dialogue in which they reiterated the UAE position on the three Iranian islands of Abu Mousa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb, which Iran considers an unnegotiable part of its territory.