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The nationwide call for citizens of Japan to stay home in the evenings follows the declaration of a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures last week, Reuters reported.

Abe has been gradually tightening guidance, seeking to lessen the impact on the economy as it is hammered by the pandemic, leading to criticism that he has been too slow to act and risks having the virus spread out of control.

Tokyo, the current center of Japan’s coronavirus outbreak, identified more than 190 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, topping Friday’s record high of 189 cases, NHK said.

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According To Iran News, The development of Japanese-Russian relations has reached unprecedented heights over the past year due to implementing joint economic projects in the Southern Kuril Islands, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during the debate in the parliament on Wednesday.

“Over the past year, the development of relations between Japan and Russia on the basis of agreements in Nagato (during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan in 2016) reached an unprecedented level,” Abe said answering a question of Yukio Edano, leader of the opposition’s Constitutional Democratic Party.

As an example, Abe cited launching the first tour to the Southern Kuril Islands for Japanese tourists and also allowing access to the islands for Japanese citizens, who used to reside there. “We will continue persistent talks in order to solve the territorial issue and sign a peace treaty,” the prime minister said, TASS reported.

Russia and Japan have been in talks to sign a peace treaty since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block to achieving this is the ownership issue over the Southern Kuril Islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan. After the end of World War II, the Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan Islands and the Habomai Islands has been challenged by Japan. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said “Russia’s sovereignty” over these islands, which is committed to paper in international documents, cannot be called in question.

In November 2018, Putin and Abe held a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Singapore and agreed that the two countries would accelerate the pace of the peace negotiations based on the 1956 Joint Declaration. The declaration ended the state of war and said that the Soviet government was ready to hand Shikotan Island and a group of small islands called Habomai over to Japan on condition that Tokyo would take control of them once a peace treaty was signed.

In May 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov highlighted that the document clearly said that the border issue could be only considered after signing a peace treaty.

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Months after Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani after attending the Kuala Lumpur Conference on Friday met Mr. Abe in Tokyo which was a response to Mr Abe’s visit where they held talks. Of course it is considered a diplomatic tradition that when some official comes to visit you, he should be welcomed.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

According to the revealed reports from the meeting, both sides conferred any topics like bilateral, regional and international issues, the JCPOA and the U.S. sanctions. After the talks and according to the Japanese media, Mr. Abe had a telephone conversation. Regardless of the telephone conversation with the White House, Japanese media claimed, whether it is right or wrong, Abe during his meeting with Mr. Rouhani said that Japan has started cooperation with three European countries (EU3) on the JCPOA.

In June, the Japanese Prime Minister visited Tehran in order to weigh U.S. President Donald Trump’s goals on change in Iran’s attitude especially on the JCPOA. Of course due to Iran’s emphasis that it cannot trust the U.S. vows, the talks between Iran and Japan were just focused on the bilateral relations and the talks did not progress as the U.S. wished.

The French who had set up a financial mechanism in line with their obligations towards the JCPOA remained inactive like what the U.S. did. Japan Prime Minister’s remarks show that the American side after facing deadlock is trying to find some other parallel channels for changing the topics of talks regarding the JCPOA.

Iranian diplomatic experts are fully aware that Japan is not able to take any step against the U.S. policy for skirting or breaching the U.S. sanctions.

On this issue Japanese newspaper Japan Times in an article pointed to President Rouhani’s visit to Tokyo and wrote, “Japanese experts believe that Tokyo has little diplomatic leverage to sway either Tehran or Washington and warn that Abe may not achieve substantial progress in the upcoming meeting with Rouhani.”

In the article Yasuyuki Matsunaga, professor of international relations at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies said, “Common sense says there is little Japan can do to defy U.S.-imposed sanctions on Iran.”

Koichiro Tanaka, professor at Keio University and a noted Iran expert in Japan, largely agrees with Matsunaga’s view. Tanaka in an interview said the Abe-Rouhani meeting planned for Friday “will be rather ceremonial,” with little substantial diplomatic development.

“There is no particular agenda for which (Japan) can expect any progress,” Tanaka said, adding that some critics in Iran have even questioned why Rouhani needs to travel to Japan at this time.

Tehran hasn’t shown any strong opposition to Abe’s plan so far, and Rouhani is likely to give it his approval because the areas in which the SDF operation is planned do not include those around the Strait of Hormuz, Tanaka said.

After his return to Tehran, Mr. Rouhani talked about Japan’s interest for cooperation in Chahbahar Port which can be considered as Tehran’s green light to Tokyo for deployment of its troops. It is clear that Europe will definitely not accept any deal and trade between Iran and Japan to happen and even to let Japan have limited role in ties between Iran and the U.S.

Japan’s decision in military cooperation with Iran, of course upon the demand of the U.S., can deteriorate ties between Iran and Europe. Britain, because of its considerable aids to President Rouhani’s team, will never let Rouhani choose other route than Europe and follow the U.S. demands.

 By: Hamid Reza Naghashian

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According To Iran News, Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs La’ya Joneidi held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo about a range of issues, including ways to boost bilateral relations between the two Asian countries.

In the Thursday meeting in the Japanese capital, Abe appreciated Joneidi’s participation in a palace ceremony held on Tuesday to announce Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement.

This year is the 90th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Iran and Japan, Abe said, hailing recent meetings and talks between the two countries’ officials, including his June trip to Tehran and his meeting with President Hassan Rouhani in New York on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.

He further pointed to the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and highlighted its importance for protecting international peace and security.

Abe added that Japan fully backs the deal and calls on all parties to the JCPOA to fulfill their obligations.

Joneidi, for her part, expressed satisfaction with her visit to Tokyo and said bilateral meetings between high-ranking officials of Iran and Japan are indicative of the fact that the two countries have age-old friendly ties.

She further said the Islamic Republic has always lived up to its obligations under the JCPOA, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved Iran’s commitment 14 times.

Joneidi traveled to Japan to represent Iran in the enthronement ceremony of the South Asian country’s Emperor Naruhito earlier this week.

She held a meeting with Japan’s newly appointed Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai in Tokyo on Thursday.

In the meeting with the Japanese minister, Joneidi called for the promotion of legal and judicial cooperation between Tehran and Tokyo, and welcomed the idea of judicial diplomacy proposed by Kawai.

She also said that the two countries can work together in various judicial fronts, such as training courses and research programs in cooperation with the union of lawyers and law faculties.

The vice president further said that implementation of previous bilateral agreements, including the extradition treaty, would resolve the problems facing the two countries’ nationals.

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It was during a meeting with members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that Abe repeated his intention of speaking with Rouhani on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, according to NHK.

Yemen’s Ansarullah forces launched drone attacks on Saturday morning at two Saudi oil facilities in Abqaiq in eastern Saudia Arabia and Khurais northeast of Riyadh, disrupting Saudi oil production and exports. The attacks are said to be in retaliation of Saudi’s continued war against Yemeni people.

Following the attack, US Senator Lindsey Graham blamed Iran with baseless accusations, recommending that the US “put on the table an attack on Iranian oil refineries if they continue their provocations”.

Moreover, US Secretary Mike Pompeo pinned the blame on Tehran over the attacks calling for public condemnation of ‘Iran’s actions’.

The unfounded accusations against Iran come as the United States has been a staunch supporter of Saudi Arabia’s war campaign against civilians in Yemen which, according to reports, has claimed more than 91,000 lives over the past four and a half years.

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The Russian leader said he hoped that a peace treaty could be signed in future however, and that the two countries could eventually resolve their long-running differences, Reuters reported.

Moscow has repeatedly raised concerns about US military systems being deployed on Japanese territory.

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In a meeting with Tadamori Ōshima Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature), he noted that Tehran and Tokyo can improve peace and stability in the region, combat terrorism, and supervise implementation of international treaties via holding mutual talks.

Abbasi underlined the vitality of expanding parliamentary ties between the two sides saying “development of all-out ties between the two countries, in particular, those between the parliaments, is of significance and in this regard, the role of constant relation between Iran-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group can pave the way to the set target.”

He hailed the visits of the sides’ officials to each other countries and said, “increasing the cooperation between officials will let them become familiar with conditions and requirements of the countries of one another.”

Ōshima, for his part, welcomed improvement of bilateral ties adding that “having cooperation among countries and using diplomacy and political negotiations are the mere options to ensure international peace.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is also in Japan for political talks. He met and held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. The two sides have conferred on bilateral ties, diplomatic efforts to salvage JCPOA, and international developments, especially in the Persian Gulf region.

According to a report by Japanese media, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Hassan Rouhani are planning to meet in late September in New York.

The Tokyo-based Kyodo News broke the news on Wednesday as Zarif is meeting with Japanese senior officials on the second leg of his three-nation Asian tour that included China first, and Malaysia as the last destination

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In a tweet in Japanese, Zarif said he has had constructive talks in Japan.

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday as the second stop of his Asian tour and held talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono in Kyodo.

The visit to Japan comes after Zarif’s trip to China and meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday. Zarif will leave for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday as the last leg of the three-nation tour.

The visits, according to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi, aim at “following up and implementing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s active and balanced diplomacy.”

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