TEHRAN—Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a rough debut as Middle East peacemaker, ending the first trip by a Japanese leader to Iran in 41 years with the U.S.-Iran conflict even more volatile than before.
Mr. Abe went to Tehran on Wednesday hoping to serve as a bridge between the U.S., Japan’s closest ally, and Iran, with which Tokyo has maintained warm ties.
By the time he got back to Tokyo on Friday, a Japanese tanker had been set ablaze by attacks in the Gulf of Oman, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was denouncing Iran for “unprovoked aggression against freedom-loving nations” and Iran’s supreme leader said there was no way he would talk to America.
The Japanese leader put a brave face on events, saying he saw progress in comments by Iranian leaders that they wanted peace. He said that between the U.S. and Iran, there was “complicated national sentiment on both sides.”
Mr. Abe dominates politics at home and is on track to become the longest-serving Japanese prime minister. Encouraged by President Trump and hoping to burnish his image ahead of parliamentary elections in July, Mr. Abe decided to dip his toe into easing Middle East tensions, an area Japanese leaders have traditionally avoided.
Instead, he got a rebuke from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after suggesting the U.S. wanted sincere dialogue with Iran. “We don’t believe these words at all because honest negotiations will not come from an individual such as Trump," Mr. Khamenei said, according to Iranian state television.
Shortly before the two men met, a Japanese-operated tanker carrying methanol was attacked and hit with a projectile near Iran. Neither side said whether Messrs. Khamenei and Abe knew about the attack when they met.
Mr. Pompeo said Iran “rejected Prime Minister Abe’s diplomacy” and “then insulted Japan by attacking a Japanese oil tanker.” Iran said it wasn’t responsible.
The threat to shipping was the opposite of what Mr. Abe hoped to achieve on the first visit by a Japanese leader to Iran since 1978. Tokyo’s main interest in the Middle East is ensuring the safety of fuel cargoes from the region to Japan, which has to import nearly all its oil and natural gas.
Although Mr. Abe pitched himself as an independent mediator, Iran’s media highlighted his affinity for President Trump and Japan’s military alliance with the U.S. Their questions served as a reminder that few are seen as free of bias in Middle East diplomacy.
Still, Kazuto Suzuki, a professor of international politics at Hokkaido University, said not all hope was extinguished. “Iran isn’t refusing shuttle diplomacy” by Mr. Abe, he said. “Mr. Abe wants to do it. If that’s OK with the U.S., it can continue.”
Mr. Abe will get another chance on the global stage later this month when he plays host to leaders of the Group of 20 nations in Osaka, Japan.
But the diplomatic work isn’t getting easier. Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping—the leaders of Japan’s top two trading partners—are set to visit Osaka, and Mr. Abe hopes to forestall a U.S.-China trade war.
—Chieko Tsuneoka contributed to this article.
Write to Alastair Gale at alastair.gale@wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-novice-player-gets-a-painful-lesson-in-middle-east-peacemaking-11560510619
2019-06-14 11:10:00Z
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