Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Being a large state in the Middle East with a population of more than 80 million people, Iran attracts much attention, including from countries outside the region, as a huge market with hidden potential.

Japan has expanded state insurance for the import of crude oil from Iran, a government official told Reuters.

This potentially allows Japanese refiners to continue shipping oil from Iran, reports the Tehran Times.

The official said that the extension of the insurance was approved by the Parliament on Wednesday and this decision takes effect from April for one year.

Japanese refiners insist that the government seek to extend the deadline for the lifting of U.S. sanctions after the initial 180-day grace period expires in early May.

A new Japanese ambassador to Tehran recently announced that his country will continue to import oil from Iran.

Strengthening economic ties between the two countries is Japan’s first priority in relations with Iran, the ambassador said, and the presence of Japanese companies in Iran, despite the reintroduction of sanctions against Iran by the U.S., underlines the importance of Tokyo’s relations with Tehran.

Diplomatic relations between Iran and Japan were established in August 1929.

Japan and Iran have fairly close economic relations, but of the sanctions against Tehran, their activity has decreased significantly.

In bilateral trade with Iran, Japan mainly acts as an importer. According to data for 2017, over 98 percent of imports come from crude oil, and from the rest, 0.7 percent is occupied by textile yarn and products of the textile industry (Persian carpets, etc.); another 0.4 percent are food products.

In Japanese exports, the largest share in 35.4 percent is occupied by vehicles (cars, etc.), followed by products of general engineering with an indicator of 20.4 percent, as well as steel, non-ferrous metals and metal products - 11.4 percent.

Japan with its modest own mineral resources has long been persistently trying to build friendly relations with the Middle Eastern oil-producing countries and for many years imported crude oil from Iran. However, because of the suspicion of developing nuclear weapons, Iran has come under the economic and financial sanctions of the West, which darken the relationship between this country and Japan.

After the United States temporarily excluded eight countries and regions (including Japan) from its ban on the import of Iranian oil in the first decade of November 2018, Japanese importing companies on November 27 showed an intention to resume import in the first quarter of 2019 oil from Iran.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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