#Iran to ask Japan's Abe to mediate over U.S. oil sanctions: officials - Reuters

Iran to ask Japan's Abe to mediate over U.S. oil sanctions: officials - Reuters:

Iran will ask Japan to mediate between Tehran and Washington to ease oil sanctions imposed by the United States, Iranian officials told Reuters ahead of a visit to Iran by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe, who is the first Japanese leader to visit Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, arrives in Tehran as heightened tensions between Iran and the United States raise fears of another military conflict in the crisis-hit Middle East.

“Japan can help easing the ongoing tension between Iran and America ... as a goodwill gesture, America should either lift the unjust oil sanctions or extend the waivers or suspend them,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters.