Press Releases
Telephone Talk between Japanese and Iranian Foreign Ministers
On January 21st, from 4:30pm(local time) for approximately ten minutes, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, who is currently visiting the UK, had a telephone talk with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in light of the hostage incident of Japanese nationals. The outline of the talk was as follows.
1. Foreign Minister Kishida stated following points:
(1) Early morning yesterday, ISIL released a video on the internet announcing its intent to kill Japanese nationals. A threat of this kind in exchange of peoples’ lives is unacceptable act, and I feel strong indignation.
(2) The ISIL makes reference to the assistance of 200 million dollars, which was announced by Prime Minister Abe during his recent visit to the Middle East, as a reason for committing this crime. But the assistance is intended to make as much contribution as possible in the non-military areas, such as assistance to the refugees.
(3) Japan will not succumb to terrorism, and will contribute to the international community’s fight against terrorism.
(4) Japan would like to ask for the support of the Iranian government in gathering information on facts of the situation and the cooperation towards early release of the Japanese nationals.
(5) Japan’s commitment to contribute even further to the peace and stability of the Middle East, in cooperation with the international community, remains unchanged. As a major power in the region, we hope to see Iran play a constructive role for the peace and stability in the region.
(6) In this regard, the dialogue on the situation of the Middle East between the foreign ministries which began based on the agreement reached in last year’s summit meeting between Japan and Iran has been quite valuable. We would like to continue our discussions towards the peace and stability of the Middle East.
2. In response, Foreign Minister Zarif stated that he strongly condemned the ISIL’s act, and that the incident poses a threat to both the Middle East and the international community. Foreign Minister Zarif stated that Iran would provide full support to Japan to seek an earliest resolution of the incident. Foreign Minister Zarif also said that he would like to continue to work closely with Japan.