Tehran on Tuesday warned Japan over withdrawal from the an oil-field development project in Azadegan, southern Iran, saying that the project would go to other countries, DPA reported.
Japanese Trade Minister Akihiro Ohata said last Thursday that Inpex Corp, an oil and gas exploration and production company, was considering withdrawing from the project "as a managerial policy."
"It seems that Inpex has been under a lot of pressure from the United States to withdraw its 10-per-cent share from the project completely but Japanese government was not interested to do so," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
"Japan should however know that in case of a withdrawal, this share of the project would go to other countries and the competition would swiftly jump in," the spokesman added.