Iran’s Foreign Minister visits Tokyo. This is the first such visit in four years

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is on a visit to Japan, whose authorities, according to reports, will try to convince Tehran to refuse arms supplies to Russia.

This is the first trip of the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry to Japan since 2019. In addition to the meeting with the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Amir-Abdollahian’s conversation with Prime Minister Fumio Kisida is also planned as part of the visit.

The purpose of the Iranian representative’s visit to the G7 country was not officially announced. The mass media, citing unnamed sources in the Japanese government, reported that Tokyo would raise the issue of exporting Iranian weapons to Russia, which is waging a war against Ukraine.

Representatives of Japan attended a major international meeting on Ukraine held on August 5-6 in Saudi Arabia. Russia was not invited to it. Consultations in Jeddah, including with the participation of China and countries that adhere to a neutral position in the conflict, such as Brazil and India, were devoted to the principles of peaceful settlement in Ukraine, which Kiev adheres to. We are talking, among other things, about his demands to Moscow regarding the complete withdrawal of Russian troops and the return of all captured Ukrainian territories.

As noted by France-Presse in connection with the trip of the Iranian diplomat, Japan and Iran traditionally maintain friendly relations, despite the extremely strained relations between Tehran and Tokyo’s key ally – Washington. Once upon a time, before the introduction of tough international sanctions against Tehran in connection with its nuclear program, Iran was a major exporter of oil to Japan, which does not have sufficient natural resources.

• Kyiv and Western countries have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying Russia with kamikaze drones, which are later used to attack Ukraine. The Russian and Iranian authorities deny this. Tehran previously announced that it was sending a small batch of drones to Moscow, but this was before Russia’s war with Ukraine. Kyiv regularly reports on the attack of Ukrainian settlements by “Shakhed” drones.