U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman said Thursday
that the country is "sharply focused" on the need of Iran's
compliance with non-proliferation of nuclear materials, and that the U.S.
welcomes "strong cooperation from Japan" in its efforts to line up the
international community to impose tougher sanctions against the Middle Eastern
country over its uranium enrichment program.
Poneman, who was speaking in Tokyo during his Asian tour, didn't mention
whether the U.S. wants Japan to stop importing Iranian crude oil.
On a possible shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran's
armed forces, he said the U.S. is committed to ensuring that all sea lanes are
"protected" and is confident its allies will cooperate.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed official as saying that the
Korean government will Friday announce its plan to ban petrochemical product
imports from Iran.
The plan won't include a possible ban on crude imports, it said.
Aligning itself with the U.S., Japan acted against Iran
last Friday by adding 106 organizations, one individual and three banks to the
sanctions list.
But it didn't ban crude oil imports from Iran.
"We would like to be careful in dealing with sanctions against Iran,
which produces large amounts of crude oil, taking into consideration possible
impacts on crude oil prices and the global economy," Yukio Edano, Japan's
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, said.
Iranian crude oil commands a significant chunk of Japan's energy supply, making
up roughly 10% of the country's intake demand.