On the brink of tapping into one of the world's largest known oil reserves, Japanese companies are fretting over the possibility of further rivalry with China.
Mining rights to Iran's vast Azadegan oil field, secured in February 2004, are the fruit of three years of hard negotiations.
But executives at Inpex Corp. of Japan say they're nervous the Japanese government might pull out its political support for the Azadegan development project in the face of potential pressure from the United States, which has taken a hard stance against Tehran due to suspicions over its nuclear program.