Iran's president visits Japan to boost political and economic ties

Iran dismissed concerns by Japan that it is developing missiles with technology provided by communist North Korea. Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono told his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, that Tokyo was worried about the similarity between Iran's ballistic missiles and those of North Korea, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Kharrazi replied that Iran is developing missiles on its own and doesn't need help from communist North Korea, the ministry said. North Korea has recently been making diplomatic overtures to the outside world. But the United States and other countries still fear it is supporting its economy through the arms trade.
Kharrazi was travelling with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who arrived in Tokyo on a four-day visit to Japan. It was the first official trip by an Iranian leader to the country in 42 years. Khatami will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.

The Iranian leader also is scheduled to meet with business leaders of Japan's six major economic organizations. The visit was aimed at boosting political and economic ties. Khatami was the first Iranian leader to arrive in Japan since King Reza Shah Pahlavi came in 1958.
A trade surplus heavily in favour of Japan was expected to be one of the main issues discussed by Khatami in Japan. He was also expected to try to lure more Japanese investment to Iran. Japan is currently Iran's largest trade partner, with 10 % of its oil requirements met by Iran. Iran's is Japan's third-largest oil supplier, selling 450,000 bpd of oil to the Japanese.