TEHRAN (Iran News) – Chairman of Iran-Japan Joint Committee says it seems some openings are happening regarding Iran’s frozen assets in Japan but since no detail is revealed, he just talks about it based on his assumption.
Speaking to ILNA, Bahram Shakouri talked about the current trade level between Iran and Japan and said that the trade between the two countries has not changed, adding that since the Japanese are major trade partners of the U.S., they are affected by the U.S. sanctions against Iran and therefore the trade between Iran and Japan is almost zero but the Japanese hope that the JCPOA talks would bear fruit and there trade relation with Iran can broaden.
He went on to say that before the new Iranian year begins in March, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) had some talks with Iran Chamber of Commerce where it showed Japan’s interests for cooperation and JETRO called for determining the grounds for cooperation.
Shakouri went on to say that Iran and Japan should start paving the ground for cooperation now in order to operationalize it after the removal of the sanctions. He expressed hope these talks would resume from next week.
He then pointed to the types of trade exchanges between Iran and Japan and said that Japan used to buy Iran’s mineral products, caviar, shrimp, food products, fruit juice, dried fruits, pistachio and carpet but Iran and Japan can cooperate in other fields like in the tourism industry. He said the Japanese are interested in Iran’s history and if we provide a condition for easy arrival of the Japanese tourists, then we can have good earning. He note Iranians are also interested in visiting Japan but due to expenses Iran is a cheaper destination for tourists.
Shakouri went on to say that exhibitions in Japan can be another ground for cooperation between the two countries and Iran can replace Europe with Japan in using the knowhow and technology in many fields. He said Iran can bring famous Japanese car brands to replace low quality cars in the country.
On the fate of Iran’s frozen assets in Japan, he said it seems some openings are happening but since no detail is revealed, he can talk only based its assumption but it seems the U.S. has signaled greenlight to Japan for the release of Iran’s assets.
Shakouri reiterated Japan’s government and people are both keen to cooperate with Iran and even both countries celebrated their 90 years of economic and political ties before the pandemic. He once again reiterated that the Japanese really want the JCPOA talks to bear fruit as they want to buy oil from Iran and even they tried to get some waiver from the U.S. but they failed.
