Japan shies away from new anti-Iran moves
NZPA-Reuter Tokyo) Japan is veering away from taking fresh financial measures against Iran despite a decision by the United States, its closest ally, to break off diplomatic ties, with Teheran, Finance Ministry ■ sources have said in Tokyo. At the same time, dealers on the Tokyo foreign-ex-change market, where the dollar fell heavily against the yen yesterday morning, said they believed President Carter's action would not impair seriously economic ties between Japan and Iran. The Ministry sources said the United States Treasury Department had not requested Japan to take any fresh financial measures against Iran, which supplies Japan with about 10 per cent of its oil needs.
Since last November, when the United States
| froze Iranian assets follow ;ing the holding of American hostages in Teheran, the Finance Ministry has urged Japanese banks not to sup ply fresh credits to Iran ex cept for building a joint Y3200M petro-chemical complex at Bandar Khomeini. The sources added that banks generally had been following so-called guideline: from the Ministry and credits since then had been confined largely to normal trade financing. . The sources said it would be difficult for Japan to agree to any fresh United States requests for economic measures against Iran because Japan wanted to continue to import Iranian oil. According to official figures, Japanese exports to Iran have been recovering since falling to SUSU6 million last November. The February total was SUSI 73 million, the same level as in
November, 1978, before the Iranian revolution.
In Europe, The Netherlands, West Germany, and Britain are reported to have expressed sympathy with the American position but so far have not announced what they will do now.
In London, the Iranian Government has announced that a lawsuit seeking the recovery of more than $3OOO million frozen in American banks by a Government order since last year will be heard in November.
On Tuesday ■Mr Carter said that an inventory of the frozen assets was being made with a view to compensating American _ businesses and the families of the hostages. The family of one of the hostages has announced that it intends to file a $lOOO million damages claim against the Iranian Government.
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Press, 10 April 1980, Page 8
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366Japan shies away from new anti-Iran moves Press, 10 April 1980, Page 8
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