“When you are strolling in the town you feel like you are in a European town; that’s the impression that I got when I first arrived in Iran,” Tsukada said in an exclusive interview with IRNA.
He said he had a different image of the Islamic Republic of Iran before coming to Iran ,“so that was a big surprise for me. I think many Japanese would have a similar perception about Iran.”
He also lamented the fact that there are a lot of negative media reports about Iran that are not true.
“If you come to Iran, you will instantly notice that, first of all, people are very friendly and they are very curious to know about foreign people, foreign culture, and especially Japanese,” he said.
The Japanese ambassador also pointed out that economic relations between Tehran and Tokyo are at a very low level, blaming US sanctions against the Islamic Republic and other international issues for that.
He hastened to add, “But I am very optimistic that we can get over this problem in the near future and build on these very warm feelings that we have towards each other.”
According to Ambassador Tsukada, Japan has enjoyed a very unique bilateral relationship with Iran which is distinct from Iran’s relationship with other Western countries.
“Despite our relationship with the United States or Israel or European countries we maintain a certain level of credibility with Iran and that is thanks to the friendship and relationship we have built over centuries,” he added.
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