Iran is against sending Japanese and other foreign military contingents to the Persian Gulf, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on Wednesday with the Japanese TV channel NHK in Tokyo.

“Araghchi said Tehran is waiting for Japan's final decision, but it doesn't believe that the presence of any foreign forces in the region would help boost stability, security or peace,” the source noted adding that the diplomat said he had conveyed Iranian’s stance to Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in a meeting. 

According to him, US policies are the root cause of escalating tensions in the Middle East. The diplomat criticized the US for imposing "maximum pressure" on Iran and withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement.

The future of Iran’s nuclear program agreements came into question after the US unilaterally withdrawal on May 8, 2018 as Washington imposed sanctions against Tehran over oil exports. According to the Iranian side, the rest of the participants, primarily Europeans, do not fully adhere to their obligations in the economic part of the agreement, so the deal in its current form does not make sense.

Iran began the first phase of reducing its nuclear deal obligations on May 8, 2019, and announced that it would take such steps once every 60 days if the partners did not fulfill their promises. Iran began on November 6 pumping gas into centrifuges to enrich uranium at a nuclear facility in Fordo, which in fact means the beginning of the fourth phase of the reduction in obligations.