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Japan official wary of Iran sanctions impact

18 January 2012 14:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Azer Mustafayev - APA-Economics. Japan’s finance minister expressed concern Wednesday about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions on Iran and their potential impact on Japanese banks, Cbsnews reported

Jun Azumi’s comments came as a delegation U.S. government officials began talks with Japanese counterparts about the sanctions targeting Iran’s oil industry in a bid to thwart what Western governments say is an effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Japan has given mixed signals on the sanctions. Azumi declared last week that Japan would move quickly to reduce its oil imports from Iran after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, but other officials including the prime minister have said economic implications need to be considered.

Azumi also struck a more cautious tone Wednesday, telling journalists at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan that if the sanctions were imposed immediately, they could sustain "tremendous" damage to Japanese banks. The sanctions would bar financial institutions from the American market if they do business with Iran’s central bank.

"We want to take steps to keep the damage to the Japanese economy to a minimum," Azumi said.