Japan's Shinzo Abe in Tehran for talks amid US-Iran tensions

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in Tehran for talks, hoping they could ease tensions between Iran and the US, BBC reports.

He is the first Japanese prime minister to visit Iran in four decades and is due to meet the country's leaders.

Iranian state television carried live pictures of Mr Abe's arrival. He was expected to go straight into talks with President Hassan Rouhani and to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday.