Abe met Thursday with Rouhani at the UN General Assembly, where Iranian president has been working to jumpstart talks with the West on the nuclear dispute.

"My frank impression of President Rouhani was that he is willing to fully cooperate with the international community. I felt a forward-looking stance from President Rouhani," Abe told reporters.

"So I really expect that Iran will take specific actions to thoroughly resolve the concerns of the international community and fully regain trust and confidence," he said.

Japan, unlike its main ally the United States, has maintained largely friendly ties with Iran but under US pressure, has scaled back investment in Iran and decreased imports of crude oil.

Abe did not comment directly on whether Japan would adjust its purchases of Iranian crude but said he encouraged Rouhani to compromise.

"I told him that the international community places great expectations on the new Rouhani administration and that he should capture the current window of opportunity and that Iran should show flexibility," Abe said.

Iran says its peaceful nuclear work is for civilian purposes, but Western officials and particularly the Zionist regime are claiming that Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation against its peaceful nuclear energy program, stressing that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his counterparts from the six world powers held substantial talks at the United Nations headquarters in New York about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

"We have agreed to meet in Geneva on the 15 and 16 of October to pursue the agenda, to carry on from today's meeting and to hopefully move this process forward," EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said after the talks.

NJF/NJF