Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is expected to start his visit to Japan on August 27, during which he will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese media reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2019) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is expected to start his visit to Japan on August 27, during which he will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese media reported Monday, citing diplomatic sources.Earlier in the month, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that Zarif was expected to pay a visit to Japan and China by the end of August in light of the rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, and the former's calls for a maritime coalition in the Persian Gulf.
Zarif's meeting with Kono is expected to take place on Tuesday in Yokohama, the Kyodo news agency reported. The meeting will be timed with Kono's participation in a ministerial meeting dedicated to preparing for the upcoming Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
The Iranian foreign minister will then meet with Abe the following day, but no information regarding what the two will discuss has been disclosed yet, the media said.
US-Iran relations have been in a downward spiral since the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last spring. The United States has since proclaimed it intends to bring down Iran's sale of oil to zero and reintroduced sanctions on almost all major sectors of the middle Eastern nation's economy.
The situation worsened over recent months following a series of attacks on commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz, for which Washington and its allies have blamed Iran. Tehran has adamantly refuted all accusations.
In response to the developments in the Gulf, the United States invited Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom, among others, to join a coalition that would strive to ensure maritime security in strategic waterways in the region. However, Tokyo has not yet responded to this offer.
