Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Wednesday denied Israeli allegations his country tried to smuggle arms on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
Israel seized a boat containing 50 tons of munitions in the Red Sea on Jan. 4 and said it was being shipped from Iran to Gaza.
At a meeting with secretaries general of Japan's three ruling parties, Kharrazi said Israel fabricated the story and that the ship belongs to a Kurd living in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the secretaries general of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party asked the minister to work for peace in the Middle East.
On the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Kharrazi stressed the importance of assisting the war-ravaged country in farming and requested that Japan make use of its agricultural technology.
Kharrazi also met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and confirmed cooperation for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in such areas as information sharing.
Kharrazi hailed Japan's initiative in organizing the Afghan reconstruction conference that ended Tuesday. and in securing massive financial pledges from the international community, according to a Foreign Ministry official.
Kharrazi said Iran's large financial commitment -- $560 million over five years -- for helping Afghanistan's reconstruction will ultimately help reduce the burden on Iran, which has accepted millions of Afghan refugees over the past two decades.