Japan’s Ex-PM Urges Tehran-Tokyo Enhanced Ties

“I hope that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Tehran and six world powers would help Iran and Japan further improve their relations,” Fukuda said at a Friday meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi in Tokyo.

Araqchi, for his part, briefed the Japanese official on the latest developments pertaining to the implementation process of the nuclear deal.

In his two-day visit to Japan, the senior Iranian diplomat also held talks with members of Japan’s International Friendship Exchange Council (FEC), members of the parliamentary friendship group of Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) and his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama.

During his meetings with Japanese officials and reporters in Tokyo, Araqchi expressed optimism that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s upcoming visit to Iran would help promote relations between the two Asian countries.

Japan’s Abe plans to visit Iran in late August to strengthen economic ties between the two nations, according to reports by Japanese media. He will be the first Japanese prime minister to visit the Islamic Republic in 38 years.

The visit will come against the backdrop of a new wave of interest in ties with Iran after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached a conclusion over the text of a comprehensive 159-page deal on Tehran’s nuclear program and started implementing it on January 16.

The comprehensive nuclear deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.

Experts believe that Iran’s economic growth would rise remarkably after the final nuclear deal takes effect.