Page 5 - IRANRptJun19

approach. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) is in the midst of addressing this task, according to CBI governor Abdul Nasser Hemmati.
2.0 Politics
2.1 Russia backs Japan’s plan to play role in resolving
Iran, US stand-off
Russia has backed Japan’s plan to play a role in helping to resolve the stand-off between Iran and the US, an official in Tokyo said on May 30 after a meeting of the Japanese and Russian foreign and defence ministers in Tokyo.
On May 27 during an official visit to Japan, US President Donald Trump welcomed the prospect of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assistance in dealing with Iran, after Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that Abe was considering a trip to Tehran as early as mid-June.
“Traditionally, Japan has had friendly ties with Iran,” a Japanese foreign ministry official told a media briefing after the meeting of ministers.
“There were comments from the Japanese side that Japan aims to play a role by taking advantage of such ties. The Russian side made a very positive comment in response,” the official said.
While claiming he has no intention of going to war with Iran, Trump is engaged in what the US describes as a “maximum pressure campaign”, and what Tehran describes as an “economic war”, to strangle the Iranian economy with sanctions. He wants to build up such pressure that Tehran is forced to come to the table to renegotiate its Middle East activities and polices, as well as its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Iran has said it has no intention of entering into talks with the US while the sanctions, which it says are first and foremost hitting ordinary people, remain in effect.
Since the start of May, the US has been using sanctions, and the threat of secondary sanctions against buyers, in an attempt at forcing Iranian oil out of he world market. Tokyo has so far cooperated with the US effort against Iran's crude shipments.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled to hold a one-to-one meeting on May 31.
May 30 also saw reports emerge that Moscow rejected an Iranian request to buy its S-400 advanced missile defence system because it feared the sale would stoke more tensions in the Middle East.
5 IRAN Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com