TOKYO -- President Hassan Rouhani of Iran met Friday with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, as speculation intensified that Abe's friendly relations with the Iranians and the Trump administration will create a new diplomatic opening to ease tensions.
The two-day visit -- the first by an Iranian head of state to Japan in nearly 20 years -- came as Rouhani faces steep challenges at home and abroad. U.S. sanctions on oil sales, imposed by President Donald Trump after he withdrew the United States from a 2015 agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activities, have severely hurt Iran's economy. And Iran has faced a growing backlash over its entanglements in the Middle East and its severe repression of domestic antigovernment protests last month.
Japan's broadcaster NHK quoted Rouhani as telling his Japanese host that "peace and stability in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf regions are extremely important for our country." Rouhani also reiterated Iran's long-standing criticism of the United States over what he called its "one-sided and irrational withdrawal" from the nuclear agreement.
"I hope Japan and other nations in the world make an effort toward the maintenance of the agreement," NHK quoted Rouhani as saying.
NHK said Abe told Rouhani that he expected Iran to abide by the agreement and "fulfill the constructive duty for peace and stability in the region." Abe also said the Japanese would "try to fulfill our role to ease and stabilize the tension in the region."
Later Rouhani posted a photo of himself and Abe on his Twitter account with a caption that read, "Iran welcomes any plan that could boost economic exchanges, especially in the energy sector, and increase oil exports and sales. For our national interest, we do not turn away from any negotiation or agreement."
Analysts said that Japan, trusted by both the United States and Iran, could be well positioned to broker a new dialogue between the two countries, after the collapse of similar efforts by France.
Their meeting took place amid other signs that Iran and the United States are looking for ways to talk. Two weeks ago Iran released an American scholar, Xiyue Wang, in a prisoner exchange that Trump described on Twitter as a fair negotiation by Iran that demonstrated "we can make a deal together!"
And in what appeared to be a diplomatic gesture captured on video at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, the U.S. ambassador, Kelly Craft, walked over to chat with her Iranian counterpart, Majid Takht-Ravanchi. While their aides sought to play down its significance, such a public encounter has rarely been seen in recent years between U.S. and Iranian diplomats at the United Nations.
Kazuo Takahashi, a professor emeritus at the Open University of Japan who specializes in Middle East politics, said Rouhani hoped to show with his visit that Iran was still respected and not isolated, "and that he may even be able to get some concessions from Japan or the United States."
Takahashi speculated that Rouhani had passed a message to Trump that "he might be willing to talk," citing the recent prisoner exchange as evidence.
Iran has publicly distanced itself from any suggestion of a quick diplomatic breakthrough with the United States. Rouhani has said that the purpose of his visit was to discuss the security of the Middle East and to calm tensions in the Persian Gulf. On Monday, Ali Rabiei, a government spokesman, said Rouhani's trip was "not related to negotiating with the U.S., but we welcome Japan's messages and new efforts."
In Iran, supporters and opponents of Rouhani were scrutinizing the trip for signs of an opening with the Americans. Many Iranians want a diplomatic solution to the sanctions, as does Rouhani's political party.
But Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has publicly ruled out talks with the United States as long as sanctions remain in place.
Yukio Okamoto, a former Japanese diplomat and policy adviser to past prime ministers, said he believed Rouhani's visit to Japan would not achieve anything but a possible "incremental softening" in relations between Iran and the United States.
Still, he said, the "atmospherics" created by the meeting were important, "communicating to the world the message that Iran is ready to talk."
Previous attempts by Japan to serve as a go-between have achieved little. Abe went to Iran in June as rising tensions between Iran and the United States raised fears of war. But his efforts to deliver a message on Trump's behalf to Khamenei were rebuffed.
In a further embarrassment to Abe during that visit, two tankers -- one operated by a Japanese firm -- were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, an act of aggression that the United States blamed on Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
After that incident, the United States called for an international coalition to protect shipping in the region. But only a few U.S. allies have joined that venture, and Japan is not among them.
Trump has pressed Abe to contribute more to U.S. military efforts overseas, including a significant increase in financial support for U.S. forces stationed in Japan. After the Gulf of Oman attacks in June, Trump complained that the United States was protecting Japanese ships for "zero compensation."
That has left Japan in an awkward position. Abe does not want to hurt his relationship with Iran but needs to balance that concern against U.S. demands that Japan shoulder a larger part of its own defense burden.
In hopes of finding a middle ground, Abe is preparing to dispatch a Japanese destroyer and patrol plane to the Middle East, where the craft will conduct an independent "investigation and research" mission.
Under the plan, expected to be approved next week, the ship and the plane will not enter the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil-shipping lane. Instead operations would be limited to the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden, where Japan has conducted anti-piracy activities.
So far, Abe "is managing to thread the needle between the U.S. and Iran," Tobias Harris, an expert on Japanese politics at Teneo Intelligence, a consulting firm in Washington, said in an email.
The Japanese "deployment to the region will be on extremely limited rules of engagement," yet "the US doesn't seem too bothered," he wrote. Harris added that Rouhani was unlikely to object to the mission, as "his visit suggests that Tehran would prefer to keep channels of communication open with Japan."
A Section on 12/21/2019