Iran's foreign minister has said that the Foreign Ministry would soon name the replacement for the new SNSC Secretary Saeed Jalili.

Jalili, the former deputy foreign minister for Euro-American affairs, was recently appointed secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) after the council's former secretary and Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, stepped down.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of "The International Seminar on the Consequences of the Use of Chemical Weapons" in Tehran, Mottaki said the ministry would name his successor soon.

Asked about a Japanese national abducted in southeast Iran, Mottaki said that efforts are underway to secure his release.

Armed bandits in southeast Iran have kidnapped Satoshi Nakamura, a 23-year old Japanese college student, who has reportedly been transferred to Pakistan.

MRD/GM/BGH