Large Japanese Economic Delegation Visits Iran

According to reports, Daishiro Yamagiwa, Japan's Deputy Minister of Economy, and representatives from 21 major companies from the country negotiated during their visit to Tehran on Sunday regarding the participation of Japanese firms in Iran's oil and gas projects as well as 'technology transfer.' The Deputy Minister of Economy of Japan added that these 21 major companies represented 'a thousand companies' interested in traveling to Iran. Meanwhile, according to Fars News Agency, Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran's Central Bank, called on Sunday, August 8, for the establishment of branches of Japanese banks in Iran, stating that this is 'legally feasible.' Bijan Zangeneh, Iran's Minister of Oil, also expressed hope that Japan could regain its previous share of Iran's energy market after the lifting of sanctions. According to the Oil and Energy Information Network website, 'Shana,' he mentioned that negotiations with Japanese companies indicated that these firms would cooperate with Iran in various energy sectors, including petrochemicals, technology transfer, refining, and upstream oil industries. Mr. Zangeneh also commented on the possibility of transferring oil fields in West Karun to Japanese companies, stating that no specific negotiations had taken place for the transfer of a particular oil field to Japanese firms. According to IRIB News Agency, he emphasized that Iran is ready to find a way for the re-entry of Japanese companies into Iran's oil projects. Japan was the second-largest importer of Iranian oil after China before sanctions, and Japanese companies were involved in Iranian oil projects, including the Azadegan oil field. However, following international sanctions against Iran, the Japanese oil development company INPEX, which had been developing the Azadegan oil field since 2001, withdrew from the project in 2010. That same year, the Japanese government approved new economic sanctions against Iran to align with the fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which included freezing the assets of 88 companies, 15 banks, and 24 Iranian individuals. Prior to that, it had already frozen the assets of 75 companies and 41 Iranian individuals. Nevertheless, Daishiro Yamagiwa expressed hope on Sunday that after the lifting of sanctions, 'new areas' for cooperation between the two countries would be defined. He emphasized, 'Traditionally, Iran and Japan have cooperated in the fields of oil, energy, electricity, and automobiles, but I believe that these areas have now expanded and new fields of cooperation should also be defined.' Additionally, according to the official IRNA news agency, the Deputy Minister of Economy of Japan stated that he had discussions with Iranian officials regarding energy and 'technology transfer.' According to Iranian media, executives and representatives from Mitsubishi, Toyota, as well as Japanese oil companies and banks are accompanying the Minister of Economy on his visit to Tehran.