TEHRAN - Tehran’s ambassador to Tokyo has said Iran and Japan need to revitalize their oil trade and banking relations as they have been affected by U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Speaking to Noornews in anticipation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s upcoming trip to Tehran, Morteza Rahmani Movahed said while Japanese firms traditionally seek to establish ties with Iranian partners, the effects of the sanctions have to be fought against to improve the situation.

According to the interview published on Sunday, the ambassador said a fear of U.S. punishment is making Japanese firms and their potential Iranian partners pass up chances of lucrative business.

He said Japanese firms are ready for all sorts of cooperation with Iranians, but what is needed to be done is to create the grounds for cooperation, stressing in particular efforts to build trust with the Japanese who demonstrate degrees of “conservatism”.

Abe is scheduled to travel to Iran on June 12, according to Japanese media.

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importance of the international nuclear deal reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1, even as the United States has withdrawn from it and Tehran said last month it would suspend some of its commitments under the accord.

The Japanese prime minister last met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly 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.

SP/PA