First, it is significant that United Nations Security Council Resolution 1137 was adopted by consensus on 12 November, and the Government of Iraq must take this resolution seriously. For Iraq, there is no way but to sincerely implement this resolution if it is to recover its position in the international community. Japan also calls upon the Government of Iraq to fully implement Resolution 1137. This situation is potentially dangerous. Third, at the press conference on 10 November, given by Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz of the Republic of Iraq in the United Nations, Deputy Prime Minister Aziz mentioned in his condemnation of the United States that, regrettably, Japan has sometimes halted its exports of humanitarian provisions to Iraq based on Security Council Resolution 661.
Japan thinks that the Iraqi side misunderstands the issue.
Japan has coped with the issue fairly, based on the relevant provisions of the UN resolutions, and has therefore admitted many export cases to Iraq. Japan has never examined the export application arbitrarily. Therefore, there is no foundation within this issue on which Iraq can condemn Japan. The United States is responsible for this situation. Having heard this, Director-General Noboru replied that the Iraqi recognition is incorrect, because the resolutions were adopted by consensus.