TEHRAN: Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he will make a five-day trip to Iran and Qatar from Sunday to hold talks with his Iranian and Qatari counterparts.
“I will urge Iran to sincerely implement a final agreement on the nuclear issue and discuss greater economic cooperation between our countries,” Kishida told a news conference on his meeting with Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Kishida, who is scheduled to arrive in Iran on Monday and meet Zarif the same day, will discuss the historic accord Iran reached in July with six major powers—the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, Japanese officials said.
Sanctions will be lifted in stages in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.
Japan and Iran are also likely to discuss a bilateral investment treaty and setting up of a joint committee to deal with energy and infrastructure development and other economic issues, according to Japanese government sources.
In Qatar, Kishida is scheduled to hold talks with his Qatari counterpart Khalid al-Attiyah on Tuesday and boost cooperation on energy issues given the country’s significance in supplying oil and liquefied natural gas to Japan, the officials said.
The Japanese foreign minister was initially thinking of visiting Iran later this month but decided to bring forward the trip as the United States and European countries are stepping up efforts to improve trade relations with Iran in the wake of the July agreement.
