According to a report carried by Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun on Sunday, Abe is planned to hold talks with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during his upcoming visit to Tehran.
The report added that the visit is “aimed at helping encourage dialogue with the US and ease tensions” between the two countries following Washington’s deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the region.
The visit will be the first by an incumbent Japanese prime minister since 1978.
Iran and Japan have kept a good relationship as resource-poor Japan relies heavily on imports of oil from the Middle East, though crude from Iran accounted for just 5.3 percent of the country's total imports last year.