Japan wants to keep importing crude oil from Iran despite rising pressure from the US to cooperate in strengthening sanctions against the Islamic Republic, reports the WSJ, citing an unnamed official at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The official reportedly said the country was concerned about the impact on energy prices and the possibility of a fuel shortage affecting rebuilding after the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that hit in March. The comments came a day before the planned meeting between US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi. The two ministers plan to meet Thursday morning, with a possible ban on Iranian crude oil and Japan’s currency intervention likely to be on the agenda, which a spokesman at the Ministry of Finance declined to discuss.

This entry was posted by Kate Mackenzie on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 5:35 and is featured in The 6am Cut London (11 Jan 2012), The Closer (11 Jan 2012), The Lunch Wrap (11 Jan 2012) . Tagged with crude oil, iran, japan, sanctions. Edit this entry.