Relationship dossier
Iran
Japan
Relationship assessment
Diplomatic engagement persists, while sanctions have constrained economic ties
Iran toward Japan
+10Iran received Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in June 2019 and engaged with his efforts to reduce tensions between Iran and the United States.
Japan toward Iran
+10Japan pursued high-level diplomacy with Iran in June 2019, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Tehran seeking to ease regional tensions. Japan stopped importing Iranian crude oil in 2019 as U.S. sanctions took effect.
Overall relationship
+10The relationship has included sustained diplomatic engagement and Japanese attempts at mediation, alongside a significant constraint from sanctions that ended Japanese imports of Iranian crude oil. These features support a mixed but modestly cooperative overall assessment.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Iran and Japan have maintained diplomatic engagement, including Japanese efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the United States. Japan’s compliance with U.S. sanctions led it to stop importing Iranian crude oil in 2019, limiting a major area of economic engagement. The relationship combines continued diplomacy with constraints arising from sanctions and regional tensions.
Areas of tension
- U.S. sanctions on Iran constrained Japan-Iran economic ties and led Japan to stop importing Iranian crude oil in 2019.
Key developments
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Tehran and held talks with Iranian leaders in an effort to ease tensions between Iran and the United States.
Japan stopped importing Iranian crude oil as U.S. sanctions took effect.
Major uncertainties
- The extent of current bilateral economic and humanitarian cooperation is unclear.
- The scope and outcomes of Japanese diplomatic efforts with Iran beyond the 2019 visit are uncertain.