Japan said Thursday it was working with Tehran to free a 23-year-old Japanese university student kidnapped by suspected bandits as he traveled alone in southeastern Iran.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said the country’s political establishment should be open to criticism.

Total SA Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie, in an interview with Le Monde newspaper, has affirmed that his company will continue to work in Iran and Myanmar despite pressure coming from government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).