Japan’s premier invites President Rouhani to Tokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has invited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Japan on a state visit.

Abe extended the invitation during a Thursday meeting with visiting head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi in Tokyo.

The Japanese premier also hailed the nuclear agreement recently clinched between Iran and P5+1 and emphasized the significance of its proper implementation.

Pointing to the chaotic security situation in the Middle East, Abe called for further cooperation between Tokyo and Tehran to counter terrorist groups, particularly Daesh (ISIS).

Salehi, for his part, extended an invitation by the Iranian president to Abe to visit Tehran.

The top Iranian nuclear official also called for the expansion of bilateral economic and trade relations with the focus on marketing and shared production.

He referred to a joint nuclear statement issued by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, welcoming Tokyo’s contribution to establish a planned nuclear safety center in Iran.

In October, Zarif and Kishida issued the statement in Tehran on nuclear safety cooperation and the implementation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

During the Japanese foreign minister’s visit back then, Tokyo also agreed to help Tehran implement the agreement with P5+1.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement is known, was reached between Iran and P5+1 – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia plus Germany – in Vienna on July 14.

Salehi arrived in Tokyo on Sunday on a four-day visit and held talks with Japanese officials about the expansion of nuclear cooperation between Iran and Japan, including on safety issues.

During his four-day stay in Tokyo, the AEOI head also met with Japanese nuclear scientists and officials from Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) and Nuclear Regulations Authority (NRA).