Abe Shinzo Archives - Iran News Daily

Abe: G7 to discuss coronavirus outbreak on March 16

reporter 1222 — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 09:03:37 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The leaders of G7 countries will hold a teleconference on March 16 to discuss the spread of the novel coronavirus in the world, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday at the debates in the country’s parliament.

“I have recently held telephone talks with the leaders of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. Today the heads of the G7 countries will hold a teleconference at 11 pm [local time] about the coronavirus outbreak,” Abe said. “I hope that we will discuss measures on how to unite in the fight against the virus spread,” he added, according to TASS.

The Chinese authorities registered an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the city of Wuhan. 157 countries have been grappling with the outbreak since December. The biggest foci are Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, France, the US, Switzerland, the UK, and Norway. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Outside of China, most cases of the new coronavirus were reported in South Korea, Iran, and Italy.

According to the latest reports around the world, the total number of coronavirus cases worldwide has hit 169,610 with 6,518 deaths as of Tuesday.

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Japan has no plan to join US-led coalition in Persian Gulf

reporter 1222 — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 07:07:32 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic welcomes Japan decision not to join a US-led naval mission purportedly aimed at protecting shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Saturday upon his arrival from a five-day trip to Malaysia and Japan, Rouhani added that the security of energy and shipping is an important issue for all big Asian and European countries whose energy requirements are tied to this region.

“Japan supports Iran’s initiative that is the HOPE peace initiative [aimed at establishing long-term peace in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz] …. Japan has also announced that it will not take part in the Americans’ plan for security in the region. We welcome both issues,” he said.

“Japan wants to bring a surveillance vessel to the region but not to the Persian Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz but to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Sea of Oman,” the Iranian president added.

He noted that Iran pursues an unwavering stance on regional security and believes that “regional security should be supplied by regional countries.”

Friction between Iran and the United States has increased since last year when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and six major powers in 2015 and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism in an attempt to strangle the Iranian oil trade.

The International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), a US-led military coalition in the Persian Gulf, officially launched its operations early in November supposedly seeking to protect shipping lanes near Iranian territorial waters.

The US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain announced that the IMSC, formerly known as Operational Sentinel, had opened its command center in the country.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi slammed the US move to create a coalition in the Persian Gulf, saying it will only exacerbate insecurity and instability across the world.

“History shows that American coalitions have always been nothing but misnomers, which have not only failed to create security but also caused more insecurity and instability in different parts of the world,” Mousavi added.

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Japan’s measures for peace in region appreciated; Iran

reporter 1222 — Sat, 14 Dec 2019 12:11:42 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – In a press conference in Tabriz, the Spokesperson of the Iranian foreign ministry Abbas Mousavi announced the country’s support for Japan’s measures taken in alleviating tensions in the region.

“Japan’s a friendly country that seeks to meet all the interests of the countries in the region and in this regard, it has started taking some measures for which Iran announces support,” Mousavi said.

“Japan has proposed some suggestions to reduce the tensions and we hope President Rouhani’s visit to Japan would be a fruitful and improving one,” he added, referring to the warm ties between the two countries and that Japan stood among fixed customers of Iranian oil which were obliged to withdraw from purchasing due to US sanctions.

The Iranian official reiterated the importance of developing relations with neighboring countries for Iran.

The meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tokyo has been finalized on Dec. 20, Japanese-based Daily ‘Japan Times’ reported.

Japan and Iran are making final arrangements for their leaders to hold talks on Dec. 20, a source close to bilateral relations said Wednesday, according to the daily.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is planning to arrive in Japan on the evening of Dec. 19 for a three-day visit after stopping in Malaysia, where he is expected to attend a conference, the source said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his government wants to help ease tensions in the Middle East, according to the paper, adding that during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday he confirmed that Rouhani’s visit was being arranged but did not give a date.

In early December, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iran’s special envoy in Tokyo in a meeting with the Japanese prime minister informed the imminent visit of President Rouhani to Tokyo.

Japan has long maintained friendly ties with Iran. Abe visited Iran in June as the first Japanese leader to do so in about four decades.

If Rouhani’s visit is realized, it would be the second visit to Japan by an Iranian president since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.

Iran used to be a major crude exporter to Japan before the United States imposed illegal sanctions against the country’s oil exports.

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Japan Ready to Visit Rouhani in Tokyo

reporter 1222 — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 13:55:57 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan is getting ready to arrange a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Tokyo.

“By steadfastly pursuing dialogue, we will continue to make every diplomatic effort possible to ease tensions and achieve stability in the region,” Abe said at a news conference on Monday.

Japan Prime Minister says “as one of those efforts, we are currently in talks and getting ready for a visit by President Rouhani to Japan,” confirming earlier reports that a trip by the Iranian president was on the agenda, AP reported.

He did not give details of the visit. Local media have reported that it is being arranged for later this month, before or after Rouhani’s planned visit to Malaysia to attend an Islamic leaders’ conference.

Back in June, Abe traveled to Iran on a first visit by a Japanese premier in more than 40 years, with a plan to help ease tensions between the Islamic Republic and the United States.

Abe said in his meeting with Iranian officials that Japan sought to play a maximum role in preventing tensions, stressing “this has been the focus of my trip to Iran.”

Iran says it is still open to the possibility of talks but only on the condition that the US returns to the 2015 nuclear deal and lifts all sanctions.

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Abe Meeting Rouhani in Japan

reporter 1222 — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 06:00:25 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said on Monday that Tokyo is in discussions about a meeting in Japan by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani this month, an attempt to try to resolve Iran’s nuclear impasse with the United States.

He also said Japan wants to make every possible effort to promote Middle East peace.

Citing a senior diplomatic source, Kyodo News Agency reported last week that Iran had proposed the visit and that the proposal was relayed during a two-day visit to Japan by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi.

Abe said Japan would make every effort to promote peace in the Middle East but did not specify when there might be a decision on sending Japanese seamen to the region to guard ships supplying Japan.

“I want to make diplomatic efforts as much as possible to help ease tensions and stabilize the situation in the region by continuing dialogue patiently,” he added.”

“Japan, which has an alliance with the US and at the same time has maintained favorable relations with Iran for a long time, must forge its own path,” he said.

As one of those efforts, we are currently in talks about a visit by President Rouhani to Japan,” he added.

Abe did not give details but local media reported the visit could take place on Dec. 20 or 21.

If the trip is confirmed, Rouhani would become the first Iranian president to visit Japan since 2000.

Japan maintains friendly ties with both the United States and Iran and has tried to ease tensions between the two, which broke off diplomatic relations after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Last year in May, US President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 pact between Iran and world powers under which Tehran accepted curbs to its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Washington has reimposed sanctions aimed at halting all Iranian oil exports, saying it seeks to force Iran to negotiate in order to reach a wider deal. Tehran has rejected talks unless Washington returns to the nuclear deal and lifts all sanctions.

In May, one year after the US pullout, Iran began retaliating by scaling back its commitments to the deal.

The Nikkei business daily said last week the government would propose deploying one escort ship and a patrol aircraft from the Maritime Self-Defense Force on a one-year mission that could be renewed annually. It plans to finalize the plan by year-end, the Nikkei added.

Regional tensions have escalated after attacks earlier this year on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial sea lane out of the Persian Gulf, and a strike on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, both of which the United States has blamed on Iran. Tehran has strongly rejected Washington’s accusations.

Japan has sought to play a mediating role between Iran and the US, with Abe traveling to Tehran in a bid to broker dialogue.

During the visit in June, Abe met with Rouhani and Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in which Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated Iran’s stance that it has no intention of making or using nuclear weapons.

Abe had a meeting with Rouhani again in New York during this year’s UN General Assembly.

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Japan’s Abe and Joneidi Meet to talk nuclear deal

reporter 1222 — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 14:02:17 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Japan’s Abe in meeting with Iran envoy, Laya Joneidi urged all signatories to Iran nuclear deal on Thursday to fully implement the international treaty.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo said that Tokyo respects and supports the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Japan’s Abe meanwhile is urging all signatories to the treaty to fully implement the deal, IRNA reported.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Laya Joneidi, Vice President for Legal Affairs who is in Japan to attend the enthronement ceremony of Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito.

The Japanese premier also stressed the importance of political ties between Tehran and Tokyo who are celebrating their 90th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties.

Joneidi reiterated that Iran has been respecting its commitments within the nuclear deal that has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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President Rouhani, Japanese PM Meet in New York

reporter 1222 — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 06:20:44 +0000

In the meeting, Abe described Japan as an age-old friend of Iran, stressing that Tokyo will keep up efforts to reduce tensions in the Middle East.

For his part, Rouhani praised Japan for its efforts to save and implement the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

He also stressed the need for the expansion of relations between Iran and Japan in various fields.

Rouhani has met several world leaders on the sidelines of the UN gathering.

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