Tokyo, Oct 02: Japan's trade minister has said his country was still in the running for a major oil deal with Iran even though it has reportedly asked European and Chinese oil companies to bid on the project, which US officials worry could fund terrorism. A Japanese consortium including two units of the state-owned Japan National Oil Corp. has been negotiating for those rights for the last two years. But the talks appeared to stall after Washington publicly criticized Tokyo for courting Tehran, expressing concern a planned USD 2 billion investment could pay for nuclear weapons development and terrorist activities.
Hiranuma told reporters today he had heard Iran was ``considering'' seeking bids from rival foreign oil companies but said Japan and Iran were still trying to reach an agreement.
“Iran has informed Japan that it still wants to continue talks with US on the oil development issue,'' he said at a news conference. Bureau Report