MOSCOW (Kyodo) As the row over Iran's nuclear program escalates, Japan could find itself in a dilemma over how to reconcile its stance against nonproliferation with its desire to develop Iran's Azadegan oil field — a key element of its future energy strategy.
"Japan has vital interests in Azadegan," a senior official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. "But as Japan has a nuclear nonproliferation policy, it's hard for us to exempt Azadegan from being affected by the nuclear row and possible sanctions."
A senior Finance Ministry official who attended a meeting of the Group of Eight finance ministers in Moscow last weekend also said, "We will closely watch developments in the standoff over Iran as they will affect the crude oil market and the global economy, whose tide appears to be changing from the calm period in 2004 and 2005."