TEHRAN: Foreign Minister of Japan Kamikawa Yoko has urged Iran to exercise maximum restraint against Israel regarding the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and use its influence on Lebanese Hezbollah to avoid further escalation.
According to Japanese media reports, Kamikawa Yoko and her Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi spoke over the phone for about half an hour on Wednesday.
Iran has already declared it wants to take revenge on Israel over the assassination of a Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran in July.
But Iran has said that it will determine the time and method of retaliation after carefully seeing how negotiations progress between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
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According to reports Kamikawa said the escalation of the situation would not be in anyone’s interest. She called upon Iran to show restraint saying that every diplomatic effort should be made to avert further tensions.
Kamikawa also urged Iran to use its influence over Lebanon’s Hezbollah, to exercise restraint. Araghchi expressing his views said Iran did not want to escalate the current situation in West Asia.
The foreign ministers confirmed that Japan and Iran would maintain links based on their traditional friendly relationship.
Kamikawa after the phone call told reporters that while maintaining a sense of urgency, extreme diplomatic efforts will be made to ease tensions.
