Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto implied Monday that the U.S. should accept the deal struck between Baghdad and the United Nations and not launch attacks against Iraq over its refusal to grant U.N. arms inspectors access to sites suspected of housing weapons of mass destruction.

"Japan is a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security Council and must respect the positions of the U.N. That is how the prestige of the U.N. has been built," he told reporters. Other political leaders expressed hope that the deal between U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraq would avert a military confrontation. Annan has yet to elaborate on the deal Iraq agreed to over the weapons inspections issue, which he said he hopes the Security Council will accept.

At the same time they remained cautious but hope the agreement over weapons inspections leads to a diplomatic solution over Iraq's suspected chemical and biological weapons arsenal. Annan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz reached an agreement Sunday that a U.N. spokesman said would be "acceptable" to all 15 U.N. Security Council members.

If Iraq agrees to allow the U.N. to inspect all facilities suspected of possibly producing or housing weapons of mass destruction or storing the materials needed to produce them, Japan would hail the pact, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka said.

Japan will decide what action to take after Annan returns to New York and reports the contents of the agreement to the Security Council, which he is expected to do as early as Wednesday morning, Muraoka said.

Foreign Vice Minister Shunji Yanai said the government will not comment on the deal until its details are unveiled, but said "Japan highly evaluates Annan's diplomatic efforts."