CORRECTED-Japan arranging for PM Abe visit to Iran in near future - govt spokesman

The Japanese government is arranging for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit Iran in the near future, the government spokesman said on Thursday. Details of the trip, which Japanese media has said would take place next week, were still being worked out, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters at a regular briefing. Abe's possible trip comes amid escalating tension between Iran and the United States and 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.

On a visit to Japan late last month, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Abe's help in dealing with Iran after public broadcaster NHK had said Japan's leader was considering a trip to Tehran. Abe would be the first Japanese sitting prime minister to visit Iran in more than four decades.