Japan FM arrives in Tehran on first leg of West Asia tour

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi arrives in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials, on the first leg of a tour taking him through West Asia region.

According to Press TV, the Japanese Embassy announced the top diplomat’s arrival in the Iranian capital in a tweet on Saturday. The plane carrying Motegi touched down at the city’s Mehrabad International Airport, the diplomatic mission noted.

The official, the embassy added, was to meet with President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi and outgoing Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Motegi would also sit down with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf’s top Advisor, who has been tapped to replace Zarif.

Before heading out on the trip, the Japanese diplomat described Tehran and Tokyo’s relations as friendly, time-honored, and changeless.

The two sides have maintained quality relations since the 1979 victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, notwithstanding a ceaseless United States-led international campaign that has unsuccessfully been seeking to isolate Iran.

ME