by WorldTribune Staff, June 11, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a discussion ahead of Abe’s planned trip to Iran on June 12-14, a Japanese official said.
Abe will be the first Japanese sitting prime minister to visit Iran in 41 years, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
Suga told a news conference on June 10 that Abe and Trump had spoken on the telephone earlier to discuss Iran, among other topics.
Abe will hold talks in Teheran with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, Suga said.
On a four-day visit to Japan late last month, Trump welcomed Abe’s help in dealing with Iran after public broadcaster NHK had said Japan’s leader was considering a trip to the Islamic Republic.
Iran announced last month it was suspending some of its commitments under the 2015 deal in response Trump withdrawing the U.S. from the deal in May of last year.
Tensions between Iran and U.S. has increased and the Trump administration has sent more military assets to the Middle East in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to American troops and interests in the region.
While Trump has urged Iran’s leaders to talk with him about giving up their nuclear program, he has also made it clear he could not rule out a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
Intelligence Brief __________ Replace The Media