Newsletter No. 967
News-Analysis
April 5, 2008

 

AHMADINEJAD SPEAKS ON THE SATOSHI NAKAMURA CASE

In a couple of days, the six month mark is about to pass since Yokohama National University student Satoshi Nakamura was kidnapped near Bam by the drug-smuggling Shahbakhsh Gang. After a long period of no fresh news on the Nakamura case, several reports have appeared in the past week or so.

First of all, Iranian Ambassador Abbas Araghchi held a news conference last week at the Japan National Press Club and told the assembled reporters that his government’s negotiations with the hostage-takers “have been intensified.” He stated that Nakamura was still in good health and that one of the key difficulties was that Nakamura was being held in a “third country” (i.e. Pakistan).

Nakamura was also a subject of discussion when MOFA Vice-Minister Itsunori Onodera held a press conference on April 3rd. Onodera wasn’t very revealing, but one interesting point was that a reporter stated that there are new reports that an agreement had been reached with the Shahbakhsh Gang and that it was possible that Nakamura might be released soon.

Today’s report from Kyodo News is that Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad himself has weighed in on this case in an interview. Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying, “We are making utmost efforts and negotiating so that the young man can return home… According to the latest information, he is now outside of Iran.”

Today’s report also adds a few details that haven’t been mentioned before. It says that the membership of the Shahbakhsh Gang consists of only around ten men. The negotiations have not been continuous and regular, as we have sometimes been led to believe. Apparently, the Iranian government knows that Nakamura is being held in a certain Pakistani village about 450 km east of the border. The gang’s demand is the release of three of their imprisoned comrades, including the son of leader Doghai Shahbakhsh. It is said that Iran is willing to release the son, but the hang-up is that the other two members are imprisoned on account of a “shooting rampage that left many police officers dead,” and therefore Tehran doesn’t want to release them.

IRAN KEEN ON JAPAN TIES

Several reports -- primarily from the Iranian media -- are providing upbeat assessments of the future of Japan-Iran relations. Earlier this week, Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono held a meeting with Iranian Ambassador Abbas Araghchi and expressed his desire to expand Japan-Iran relations across a variety of fields. Araghchi is said to have passed along an invitation from Tehran for Kono to visit Iran. Kono expressed his “hope” that he would do so.

In mid-March, after new sanctions were slapped on Iran, Ambassador Araghchi came out and reassured Japanese leaders that his country was still prepared to guarantee stable oil supplies for Japan. He stated, “The sanctions have nothing to do with our oil and gas industry… I can confirm that we have been an oil supplier for Japan and will remain a reliable supplier for Japan in the future.”

Through these kinds of stories, we can see that Tehran is still maintaining its “sunshine policy” toward Tokyo, hoping that the Japanese will eventually start reciprocating in a serious way.

RECENT CULTURAL EXCHANGES

There were two new stories in early March about Japan-Iran cultural exchanges.

The first regarded the opening of the “Splendor of Iran’s Pottery” exhibition which is being held in the Middle Eastern Culture Center (Chukinto Bunka Sentaa) in Mitaka City from March 8th to July 6th. The ceremony was attended by Ambassador Araghchi, Cultural Attache Mohammad Ayatollahi, and Mitaka Mayor Keiko Kiyohara, among others.

Photo: Poster of the Pottery Exhibition
Source: Middle Eastern Culture Center

The other story was that a prominent Iranian carpet-weaver named Mohammad Mohammadi wove and dedicated a valuable symbolic carpet to the Japanese nation. Mohammadi’s carpet is a work titled “War and Peace” and it depicts “the Hiroshima nuclear bombing and environmental destruction on one side and global reconstruction on the other side.”

The Iranian media described the artist’s message as follows: “This unique carpet demonstrates its artist's contempt for war and conveys Iran's message of peace to other nations, including the Japanese who have greatly suffered the aftereffects of nuclear weapons.”