<p class="title">Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Iran on June 12-14 and hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, Japan's top government spokesman said on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abe's trip comes after tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated recently, a year after Washington pulled out of a deal between Iran and global powers to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in return for lifting sanctions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also told a news conference that Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump had spoken on the telephone earlier on Tuesday to discuss Iran, among other topics.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On a four-day visit to Japan late last month, Trump welcomed Abe's help in dealing with Iran after public broadcaster NHK had said Japan's leader was considering a trip to Tehran.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abe will be the first Japanese sitting prime minister to visit Iran in 41 years, Suga said.</p>
<p class="title">Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Iran on June 12-14 and hold talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, Japan's top government spokesman said on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abe's trip comes after tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated recently, a year after Washington pulled out of a deal between Iran and global powers to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in return for lifting sanctions.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga also told a news conference that Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump had spoken on the telephone earlier on Tuesday to discuss Iran, among other topics.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On a four-day visit to Japan late last month, Trump welcomed Abe's help in dealing with Iran after public broadcaster NHK had said Japan's leader was considering a trip to Tehran.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abe will be the first Japanese sitting prime minister to visit Iran in 41 years, Suga said.</p>