Japan not to follow US in blacklisting Iran elite group
The Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno said Japan will not follow US in blacklisting the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday night, Kōno said Japan is not supposed to obey US on designating IRGC as a terrorist organization.
He added that Japan has preserved its close ties with Iran.
Tokyo will just mention the major points and will continue solving problem through negotiations, he noted.
The US President Donald Trump in a statement on Monday accused the IRGC of being 'the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign'.
“We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the Iranian regime for its support of terrorist activity until it abandons its malign and outlaw behavior,” Trump said.
In reaction to the US designation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recommended that Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) should add American forces in West Asia, known as the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), to its terrorist groups' list.
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