Japan PM says call with Iranian president being 'arranged'

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Tuesday that "arrangements" were being made for a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as war rages in the Middle East.

"I recall what I said yesterday was that we were making arrangements to do a telephone call with the Iranian president," Takaichi said in parliament.

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"We have to communicate both with the US and Iran, so we are seeking telephone calls with the presidents of both countries," she told a upper house budget committee meeting.

Earlier Tokyo said that Iran had freed a Japanese national held since January, with Kyodo News reporting that the person was believed to be the Tehran bureau chief of broadcaster NHK.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi late Monday Japanese time, Tokyo said.

Motegi "expressed his grave concern over the prolonging exchange of retaliatory attacks (by Iran on Gulf countries), and reiterated Japan's consistent position that an early de-escalation of the situation is of utmost importance," the foreign ministry said.

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"In addition, he urged Iran to engage sincerely with the diplomatic efforts currently underway among the relevant countries," a statement added.

Japan is the fifth-biggest importer of oil with more than 90 percent of it coming from the Middle East, as well as around 10 percent of its liquified natural gas (LNG) imports.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump again criticised NATO allies as well as South Korea, Australia, and Japan for not assisting with the Iran war.