Koichiro Gemba, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on March 5 that Japan and the United States are close to agreeing on Japan’s reduction of Iran’s oil imports, and that consultations could be completed by the end of March, which will spare Japan’s sanctions against the United States.

However, Shinichiro Koijone said that the two sides may not announce the scale of import crude oil reduction, because it may affect the market.

Junichiro Koi said in an interview that “the negotiations are in the final stage, but (agreement) is still needed to continue to explore. Of course, we will cut imports, but because the specific figures will affect the market, so I think it is better not to publish now. ”

The Japanese government said earlier that Japan may be affected by the U.S. sanctions against Iran. In the past five years, Iran’s oil imports have been reduced by 40%.

Japan’s Iranian oil imports fell by 22.5% in January from the same period last year. In 2011, Iran’s oil accounted for 8.8% of Japan’s total oil imports.