Japan rejects US plea to halt work on Iran oil field
TOKYO, March 23: Japan said on Thursday it would press ahead with its multi-billion-dollar oil investment in Iran, rejecting a plea by US officials to pull out due to Tehran’s nuclear drive. The Sankei Shimbun newspaper said the United States had asked its close ally, which is heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil, at least to halt work in Azadegan, southwestern Iran, one of the world’s biggest untapped reserves.
The demands were made informally by US officials, including Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and undersecretary of state for arms control Robert Joseph, the conservative daily said, quoting sources in Washington.
But Vice Trade Minister Hideji Sugiyama said Japan would go ahead with the Azadegan project.
“I understand that there is no truth that there was a request. For now we will stick to our current policy,” Mr Sugiyama told reporters.
He said Japan would balance the mounting concern about Iran’s nuclear ambitions with the needs of the world’s second largest economy.
“We hope that Iran will listen to the international community’s concerns, but at the same time it is important to have a stable supply of crude oil from Iran,” he said.
The US embassy here said Japan was aware of US opposition to investment in Iran but declined to comment on whether Washington has pressured Tokyo to stop the Azadegan project.
“We have discussed our views on this and related matters and Japan knows our position on this matter,” a US embassy spokesman said.
But a Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Japan “is holding no concrete talks with the United States” on the future of the project.
“The Azadegan oil development is a very important project for us in terms of stable energy supply. We will cope with the matter squarely as nuclear non-proliferation and stable supply of crude oil are both important,” she said.
Japan has walked a tightrope on the Iranian crisis, supporting US and European calls for Tehran to give up its nuclear program while trying not to jeopardise its close commercial ties with the government in Tehran.
Japan defied the United States in 2004 by signing the contract to develop Azadegan, considered one of the world’s biggest untapped oil reserves.
During a visit to Japan this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Japan’s stance on the Iranian nuclear issue would not affect the major oil investment.
But Japan’s largest oil refiner, Nippon Oil, last week said it would cut imports from Iran by 15 percent this year, in what was seen as a precaution in case the nuclear standoff escalates and puts the oil industry at risk. —AFP
