Among additional assistance would be prefabricated homes, the despatch of Japanese earthquake experts and technology to Iran as well as the training of Iranians in Japan, said Hatsuhisa Takashima.

Kawaguchi went to Iran on Monday to express "personal condolences" after the massive earthquake that shattered the southeastern town of Bam on December 26 killing some 30,000 people.

"Japan has such tragic memories of the earthquake that destroyed Kobe in 1995," he told a press conference in Abu Dhabi.

Kawaguchi also explained to Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi Japan's decision to send troops to Iraq to help with reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, Takashima said.

And she urged Iran to further cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after Tehran last month signed additional protocols of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which opens the way for snap inspections of sites.

On developing Iran oilfields, the two ministers had agreed "serious negotiations are going on between a Japanese consortium and the Iranian authorities and both agreed they wanted to see the negotiations concluded satisfactorily and successfully in the near future."

The minister held talks with United Arab Emirates deputy premier and minister of state for foreign affairs Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahayan in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and was to fly home on Thursday.

TERRA.WIRE