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Diplomacy
Reactions to Japan's Iran Sanctions Move
Monday, September 6, 2010
Mehmanparast
Tokyo -- Widely varying reactions have been expressed from different quarters regarding the Japanese government's decision to impose unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic over concerns about nuclear development.
Two officials of the Iranian government have separately criticized the move.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that Japan was depriving itself of taking advantage of Iran's potential.
"Sanctions and resolutions are illegal, illogical and unfair in principle," he said, "Our nation is being tried for a crime that it has not committed."
Iran's Ambassador in Tokyo, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, took a somewhat different line, emphasizing that there was no need to overreact.
"Our general assessment shows that the status quo of economic interactions between Tehran and Tokyo will not change so much by the approval," Araghchi told an Iranian news agency.
Araghchi added that Japanese officials needed to "show moderation" in their approach.
US government officials, of course, had lobbied for Japan to impose these sanctions and were gratified by Tokyo's decision.
State Department Special Advisor for Nonproliferation and Arms Control Robert Einhorn (who visited Tokyo in early August for the specific purpose of asking the government to impose unilateral sanctions) told NHK, "The measures that Japan took today were very strong. We think they will be very effective and send a strong signal to Iran."
Furthermore, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner issued a joint statement which states that Japan's sanctions "mark a significant step forward in the international community's efforts to combat proliferation and prevent Iran's development of nuclear weapons."
"Japan joins other responsible nations that have also implemented such sanctions on Iran for its failure to meet its international obligations," the statement added.
Pro-Israel lobby groups in the United States, which have strongly supported the international campaign against the Iranian government, also welcomed Japan's move.
American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris declared, "Japan's action today is another clear message to Iran's leaders that their country's closest trading partners are tired of their constant deceit about Iran's nuclear program... There is widening recognition around the world that a nuclear Iran poses a profound danger to global security."
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