Tokyo

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may visit Japan from Dec. 19 and hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the day, Jiji Press learned Tuesday.

Tokyo and Tehran are in the final stages of setting up the visit, according to sources in the two governments. Abe and Rouhani are expected to discuss de-escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Abe hopes to get Rouhani’s understanding on Tokyo’s plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces troops to the Middle East on a mission to secure sea lane safety. The plan is expected to be given cabinet approval on Dec. 20.

This will be the first visit to Japan by an Iranian leader since a trip in October 2000 by then President Mohammad Khatami. Rouhani is expected to stay in Japan until Dec. 20, the sources said.

Abe visited Tehran in June and met with Rouhani and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Japanese leader also met with US President Donald Trump and Rouhani separately in New York in September, as part of Tokyo’s efforts to act as a bridge between the two feuding countries.

At a press conference on Monday, Abe said that Rouhani’s visit is “currently being organized.”

“As a country that has an alliance with the United States and at the same time has maintained longstanding, amicable relations with Iran, Japan is expected to lead in a uniquely Japanese way,” he added. “I’d like to put as much effort into diplomacy as I can.”

Jiji Press