Photo/Illutration Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shigeo Yamada, left, shakes hands with Iranian Vice Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri at their meeting in Tehran on April 8. (Taken from the Iranian government website)

TEHRAN--Japan has asked Iran to stop supplying weapons to Russia in the first in-person vice minister-level meeting between the two countries in more than three years. 

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shigeo Yamada talked with Iranian Vice Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri for about four hours in Tehran on April 8, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Iran has continued to offer military support to Russia for its war against Ukraine. 

The discussion also touched on the situation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which recently restarted diplomatic relations brokered through China.

During the meeting, Yamada expressed his hopes that the two countries will further progress with the normalization of relations.

Yamada also said he hopes that the Iran nuclear deal, which the United States under the administration of former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, would be restored.

Yamada also agreed with the Iranian side that the two countries would continue their long-standing friendly relationship.

The April 8 meeting in Tehran marked the 29th vice minister-level meeting between the two countries and the first face-to-face one since talks in Tokyo in December 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic worsened.

Japan is the president of the Group of Seven this year and will host a meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, starting on April 16.

The talks on April 8 indicated the Japanese side placed importance on directly listening to the views of Iran, with which Japan has been on friendly terms. At the upcoming conference in Karuizawa, the situation in the Middle East will be one of the discussion topics.

Related News