Japan’s PM Asks Iranian President to Stick to JCPOA

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has requested from visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that Tehran abide by the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 multilateral agreement designed to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons. The accord brought an end to harsh economic sanctions, although when the United States withdrew in May 2018, calling it too soft, Washington reinstated sanctions of its own, leading Iran to return to enriching and stockpiling uranium. At the start of a meeting on Friday in Tokyo, Abe promised that in return, Japan would work to ensure stability in the Middle East. Abe visited Iran last summer, when tensions in the Gulf were high over what were called Iranian attacks and harassment against commercial oil tankers.