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The Times of India
Quietly, behind the scenes, Japan has been taking significant steps in the Af-Pak theatre. A little noticed visit by Hirofumi Nakasone, Japanese foreign minister to Tehran in the first few days of May has yielded interesting results.
Quite apart from a joint statement issued at the end of the visit , the Iranian side has proposed setting up a multilateral electricity grid in Afghanistan linking Tajikistan, Iran and western Afghanistan centred ofn Herat. The Iranian side has even given a detailed proposal on the subject, and if it passes muster, Japan could fund it. But this is more than a simple assistance package for Afghanistan.
Japan looks at it as the thin end of the wedge, and wants to use this to bring the Iranians to the Af-Pak table. Now this is pretty forward thinking — obviously there have been consultations between the US and Japan on this.
Japan is one of Iran’s closest friends, despite being a close ally of the US. And because Manouchehr Mottaki used to be an ambassador to Japan, there’s a great deal of personal interest there as well.
In fact, Japanese foreign ministry acknowledges a small diplomatic “hit” — Japan, it turns out, played a crucial role in the release of the Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi from a Tehran jail last week. One of the messages that Nakasone delivered effectively was that it wasn’t helping Iran’s cause any to keep Saberi in jail, not at a time when the US was showing that it wanted to take a different path with Iran. Her release effectively ended a diplomatic stand-off.
Clearly, what saved Saberi was the fact that her mother is Japanese!
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Comments:
Sort by: Oldest | Newest | Recommended (2) | Most DiscussedMay 15,2009 at 08:41 AM IST
Indrani: Some time your analysis is absolutely wrong, one of the reason Japanese PM went to Tehran is because Roxana mother is Japanese.I'm glad to hear Japan is applying some pressure on Iran.Saberi is a dual Iranian-American citizen who was born in Fargo, North Dakota. Her father is Iranian and her mother is Japanese,Saberi’s case was an example of “using human life and freedoms for political gain,I hope this episode isn't lost on Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the State Department. I hope they've learned how justice is meted out in Iran.
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May 17,2009 at 11:05 AM IST
I am not inclined to agree with the good prof. It would be naive to assume that diplomacy is conducted because of sentimental reasons such as having japanese roots. I would assume that it is part of the american design to get Iran on its side before the af-pak (or is it pak-af) strategy bears fruit. As far as Japanese are concerned their lack of hard power will always mean their being a cat's paw for the americans.
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