TEHRAN – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced on Saturday that Tehran and Tokyo are resolved to continue their consultations over key international and regional issues more closely than ever. 

The remarks by the top diplomat came one day after President Hassan Rouhani held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Friday.

“Bilateral ties, regional and international subjects, the issues surrounding the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and the U.S. sanctions were vastly discussed during meetings of senior Iranian and Japanese officials, and it was agreed that consultations between the two nations continue more closely,” Araghchi explained.

In his visit to Tokyo, Rouhani was accompanied by a senior delegation including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi, and presidential advisor Hesamoddin Ashena. 

On the reasons why Rouhani visited Tokyo, Araghchi said, “The president’s trip was in response to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Tehran. On the other hand, we are in the 90th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two nations, that is why our president and Abe managed to hold three meetings in Tehran, New York, and Tokyo in the current year.”

Araqchi, who served as Tehran’s ambassador to Tokyo in the second half of the 2000s, said Iran has been continuously holding diplomatic talks with Japan but consultations between the countries are now of paramount importance as Iran has come under “unfair pressures and sanctions” by the United States.

“We have always had close diplomatic consultations with Japan. This year, due to the current developments, including the U.S. unfair pressures and sanctions on Iran, it was necessary to hold closer and tighter talks with Japan which are an old trade partner of Iran,” the deputy foreign minister remarked. 

MJ/PA