The prime ministers of Japan and Israel compared notes today about living near countries with suspected illicit nuclear weapons programmes.
Benjamin Netanyahu, on the second day of a five-day trip to Japan, said the international community should keep up pressure on Iran, which the West suspects of trying to develop atomic bombs.
In a joint statement released with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the two men also "expressed their strong hope for the early resolution of various issues of concerns regarding North Korea, including its nuclear development".
Speaking at a joint news conference after their meeting, Netanyahu said Abe had told him in no uncertain terms that Japan was facing a very real threat from the North, which observers say is preparing for a fourth nuclear test.
"The same words - 'clear and present danger' - certainly apply to the Iranian nuclear programme as well," he said.
"Like North Korea before it, Iran wants to keep its military capabilities, military nuclear capabilities while easing the sanctions that are applied to it.
"We cannot let the ayatollahs win," Netanyahu said.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is intended only to generate power for civilian purposes.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will begin talks in Vienna tomorrow when they start drafting the text of a comprehensive and potentially historic deal.
An accord would de-fang Iran's atomic programme with a drastic reduction in scale. In return, all UNSC sanctions and additional unilateral sanctions targeting Iran's lifeblood oil exports would be lifted.
Japan, which depends heavily on Middle Eastern oil, has maintained friendly relations with Iran through its years of ostracism by the West.
Netanyahu and Abe also "confirmed the necessity of cooperation in the field of cyber-security and... Affirmed the importance of bilateral defence cooperation", according to the statement.
"They concurred with the visit of officers of the Japan Self-Defence Forces to Israel."
Abe is pushing for Japan's well-equipped and well-trained military to take a more active role in world affairs, a strategy he has dubbed a "proactive contribution to peace".
