Japan will reduce its imports of Iranian oil
Best Growth Stock – Japan agreed to reduce its imports of Iranian oil to intensify pressure on Tehran’s nuclear program, a diplomatic success for the United States, which received a setback on the eve of China.
Tokyo matter 10% of Iran’s black gold and will “take early and planned concrete measures to further reduce this part,” he said on Thursday the Minister of Finance Nippon, Jun Azumi, after a meeting with the U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
However, Geithner failed Wednesday in Beijing is no commitment in this regard in China, the main importer of Iranian oil.
U.S. wants to strengthen international pressure measures against Iran’s nuclear program, as the West fears is a cover for developing atomic weapons, which Tehran strongly denies.
“The nuclear issue is a problem that the world can not ignore. Therefore we fully understand the actions taken by the United States,” said Azumi.
Iran is the third largest oil supplier to Japan, on par with Qatar and behind Saudi Arabia (30% of imports Nippon) and UAE (20%).
Without fossil fuels, the archipelago has become even more dependent on oil after Fukushima nuclear accident, which caused the shutdown of most of its reactors.
Nippon Minister of Foreign Affairs, Koichiro Gemba, has just completed a tour of its main suppliers Arabs to compensate for reduced Iranian imports.
Tokyo’s announcement is a victory for the U.S. undisputed. “We appreciate the support of Japan, who is with us, next to the international community” to pressure Iran, Geithner said.
Tension has risen in recent weeks between Washington and Tehran after Iranian authorities threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which flows 35% of the oil transported by sea in the world.
“We work closely with Europe, Japan and our allies around the world to significantly increase the pressure on Iran,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary.
The Danish Presidency of the European Union said Wednesday that the January 23, Europe will decide on a new package of sanctions not only against the oil sector, but against the Iranian central bank. “We look for how to cut the ties between the central bank (Iran) with the international financial system and reduce Iran’s oil revenues,” said Geithner.
President Barack Obama recently passed a bill to strengthen sanctions against Iran’s financial sector, which will freeze U.S. assets of any foreign financial institution that trades with the central bank in the Iranian oil sector.
These new measures concern to Tokyo, as they will have dramatic effects on large Japanese banks, which have exchanges with the central bank to pay for Iranian oil purchases.
Nippon Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, warned that abrupt implementation of these new sanctions will have dire economic consequences, both in Japan and abroad, according to an official meeting with Geithner.
The mass-circulation newspaper Yomiuri Nippon Shimbun said Thursday that in return for reducing Iranian oil imports, Japan hopes that U.S. banks Nippon exclude these new financial measures.
Category: Business News
