Abe orders security adviser Koike to work on Iran nuclear issue

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered Yuriko Koike, the premier's special adviser on national security, to be in charge of the issue of Iran's nuclear development, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Friday.

Abe instructed Koike "to give her knowledge on the Iran issue" since she "is well versed in Middle Eastern affairs," Shiozaki said at a morning news conference. Koike is a graduate of Cairo University. Government sources earlier said that preparations are under way to send Koike to the United States and Iran soon. Shiozaki, however, said, "Nothing concrete has been decided" about that.