Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Tokyo – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Thursday said he was in support of the measured response the U.S. has shown toward Iran’s missile attacks on military bases in Iraq hosting U.S. troops.
“Japan has been urging all parties involved to exercise self-restraint so it’s our stance that we support the restrained response by the U.S.
“We will continue to make all possible diplomatic efforts to ease and stabilise the situation in the Middle East,” Abe said.
However, Abe’s position was based on U.S. President Donald Trump’s pronouncement on Wednesday that U.S. would not respond to Iran’s attack with a further military attack.
Iran’s missile strike on Wednesday was a reprisal for the U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, in an airstrike.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Defense Ministry said its Minister Taro Kono, spoke to Iran’s Defense Minister Amir Hatami, on phone for the first time since October.
Japan’s defense ministry said the talks traversed a range of issues pertaining to the Middle East including those related to peace and security in the region.
Japan has sought to maintain friendly ties in the region as the resource-poor nation relies on the area for more than 90 per cent of its crude oil imports.
Japan had sometime in the past attempted to mediate between its U.S. ally and Iran, the latter of which it maintained friendly ties, to try and help de-escalate the situation.
Japan said it had not changed its plans to send Self-Defense Forces personnel and hardware to the region to ensure the safe navigation of commercial region. (Xinhua/NAN)
