Newsletter No. 481
News-Analysis
January 12, 2007

 

ISRAELI AND IRANIAN DIPLOMATS BATTLE OVER TOKYO’S NUCLEAR POLICIES

Next week -- January 17th to 18th -- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will visit Tokyo on her first state visit to Japan. During her visit, she is expected to hold discussions with Foreign Minister Taro Aso, and to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Abe.

MOFA has nothing to say about the contents of their talks, but the Jerusalem Post does. According to them, “Stopping Iran's nuclear march will be one of the major focuses of talks.” They further note that Israeli diplomats believe that the Abe Administration “does not need to be persuaded” to take such action, as they regard Tokyo’s current position as being oriented toward a tough approach on Tehran. They point to the freezing of relations between some Japanese banks and Bank Saderat of Iran, and, of course, the decision to pull the plug on the Azadegan deal. According to the Jerusalem Post, “These actions were applauded in Jerusalem, which is urging countries with heavy financial ties with Iran to take unilateral action independent of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran that were voted on last month.” We will see if anything else emerges from Foreign Minister Livni’s visit next week.

Meanwhile, IRNA carries reports of an interview with Iran’s Ambassador to Tokyo, Mohsen Talaei. The ambassador reaffirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, and took a not-so-disguised jab back at Israel by saying, “As a member of NPT, Iran is an internationally committed country, based on which it considers access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as the nation's inalienable right. Unfortunately, today some countries possessing nuclear weapons, which are not themselves committed to any international treaties, are seeking to violate the nuclear right of the Iranian nation… Iran is completely against production and development of weapons of mass destruction as well as nuclear arms in the world. Similar to Japan, Iran is considered as the most obvious victim of these types of weapons.”

I’m not exactly sure what the ambassador is referring to in the last sentence.

At any rate, Talaei concluded his interview with a “pan-Asianist” appeal for Japan-Iran friendship and support: “One of the commitments underlined and fulfilled by Iran in its relations with Japan is the issue of supplying Japan's energy requirements on a sustainable basis. Therefore, Iran has so far attempted to strengthen its exchanges with Japan in the energy sector, despite the negative political atmosphere created by some countries which have been opposing Iran… What is expected of a developed Asian country is to support the rights of other Asian states, which are attempting to make progress in scientific and economic fields.”