Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to visit Iran in August to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani, a government source said.

Abe envisions the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to Iran since Takeo Fukuda went there in 1978 as further boosting economic cooperation with the country rich with oil and gas resources, according to the source.

He is also eyeing exchanging opinions with Rouhani over Islamic State militants and civil war in Syria, the source said.

Abe hopes to travel to Iran shortly before or after attending the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD VI, to be held in late August in Kenya, the source said.

The Japanese government is studying the feasibility of Abe also visiting Saudi Arabia, another major oil producer, according to the source.

Abe told Rouhani of his hope to visit Iran when they met in New York in September on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly.

Japan and Iran signed a bilateral investment pact in February aimed at helping Japanese firms do business in the resource-rich country amid intensifying foreign competition for its market access.

The signing came after Tokyo lifted sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in January following confirmation by a UN nuclear watchdog that Tehran had implemented measures promised under a landmark deal it struck with six major powers last July.

(Source: Japan Today)