Japan FM: Japan Ready to Cut Iran Oil Imports

Japan pledged to take "concrete" action to reduce the amount of Iranian oil imports, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said  in a press conference Thursday with his counterpart,  US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

"What I told the secretary is that we have already reduced Iranian oil imports by 40% in the past five years," Azumi said. "The nuclear development issue is an issue that the international community cannot overlook, so we very much understand the U.S. action."

Azumi gave no details regarding the timeline of the planned cuts.

Geithner welcomed the  increased cooperation, especially in light of China's rebuff of a similar appeal by the US earlier in the week.