Newsletter No. 163
January 18, 2006

 

AN EXCHANGE OVER THE IRANIAN NUCLEAR ISSUE

An interesting exchange took place yesterday between MOFA Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi and a reporter, which is closely related to our observations here about the Iranian nuclear crisis. I reproduce the full exchange as posted at the Foreign Ministry website without comment:

Reporter: I have read some reports that Japan was going to engage itself in what was termed as “elevation with Iran” to try to solve the problem there. At the same time, I believe it was this morning that there was a joint statement by a number of countries, including the US, Russian Federation, and the People’s Republic of China as a way of condemning Iran’s nuclear aspirations. What can you tell us post-New Year what Japan is doing, where it stands, and what Japan wants to see done in regards to these developments in Iran?

Mr. Taniguchi: Let me tell you a couple of things. First, if things continue as they have in terms of the resumption of their attempt to enrich uranium, the Japanese Government holds the views that to bring this issue to the United Nations (UN) Security Council is inevitable. Japan does have an official diplomatic relationship with Iran. Is this a weakness or a leverage? I can tell you that it is not by any means a weakness but a leverage. So by maintaining the official diplomatic relations with Iran there is and there should be a number of ways for Japan to express its deep concerns that are widely held by the countries that you mentioned directly to Iran. I can not tell you how we are doing that, or when, or other details, but generally speaking the Japanese Government has been closely in touch with Iran and we have told them a number of times that they should stop doing what they are doing, namely, the process of enriching uranium. So that is the overall answer to your question.

Reporter: Can you tell us anything about a report which states that according to a Japanese Government source, as part of Japan’s efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, it is considering to invite the former Iranian Ambassador to Japan to talk it over?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not think it was directly related to the uranium enrichment plan, it should have been arranged well before that. But I can not tell you further details on whether this will happen, or when it will happen.