Just a few weeks ago, it seemed that the U.N. General Assembly in New York would be a possible venue for the leaders of the United States and Iran to sit down for historic talks amid their standoff over a 2015 nuclear deal.
The chance, however, slipped away in the wake of the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, with the U.S. quickly pinning the blame on Iran and even signaling the possibility of military retaliation.
As world leaders gathered for the U.N. meetings, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought to use the arena to call on both U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to work toward de-escalating the tensions in the Middle East, a critical region for resource-poor Japan.