Former Japanese foreign minister Masahiko Komura, who arrived in Teheran on Tuesday evening, started talks with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi Wednesday morning and was to deliver a message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to President Mohammad Khatami, reported DPA.
Analysts quoted by the German agency say that Tokyo is acting on a request from US President George W. Bush to Koizumi to use Japan's connections with Iran to tell the Teheran administration that cooperation would lead to economic benefits.
Iran has suffered losses as a result of US trade sanctions since 1995. By Iranian estimates, billions of dollars from before the 1979 Iranian revolution also remain frozen in US banks.
Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Tuesday that Japan was considering possible humanitarian aid to Teheran if there was an influx of Afghan refugees fleeing into Iran following the planned military strike against Afghanistan. She also told the agency that Japan's action would depend on how the United States responded to the situation.
Komura was in Saudi Arabia as Koizumi's envoy to urge the country to cooperate in anti-terrorism efforts. Kenzo Oshima, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs who is also Japanese, is currently in Teheran with a message from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for Khatami on the refugees.
The official Iranian news agency (IRNA) said that the envoy would convey the international organization’s appreciation of Iran’s efforts in the Afghan refugees crisis.
Iran, which is already hosting more than two million Afghan refugees, has sealed off its nearly 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan, but says it will provide aid to Afghan refugees within buffer zones on Afghan soil.
Iran has declared its readiness to join in a fight against international terrorism under United Nations auspices, but not in an alliance under US leadership.
Also within the context of Japan's intensified efforts in the anti-terror war, Japan’s former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto will visit Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for six days starting Sunday.
He will act as Koizumi's envoy in relation to the September 11 terror attacks on the United States, reported Kyodo news agency, quoting Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda as saying on Monday.
Hashimoto's visit is part of Japan's diplomatic efforts to boost international cooperation in the US-led war on terrorism, the top government spokesman said at a news conference – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
