The Japanese government has been considering whether the Self-Defense Forces can be dispatched to the scope of the Constitution and the current legislation over the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran is virtually closed.
While President Trump is calling on several countries to send ships to Japan and other countries, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants to decide the direction of the Japanese government ahead of the Japan-U.S. summit on the 19th.
However, the legal hurdles for the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to areas in combat are high, and the government is carefully considering whether to dispatch the SDF, including after the end of the battle, in close cooperation with the United States and other relevant countries.
Several government officials have made it clear. The Prime Minister said at the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors on the 16th, “I myself am continuing to consider what Japan can do within the legal framework, giving various instructions.” “We are sorting out what we can do and what we can do in Japan, what we can do in Japan, and what we cannot do in Japan,” he said, citing the removal of mines, ship protection, cooperation with other countries’ forces, and expanding the scope of current information gathering. One government official said the possibility of sending the Self-Defense Forces was “under intense consideration.”
Toshimitsu Motegi On the same night, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu met by telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Rubio. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Motegi said that the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is extremely important from the viewpoint of securing energy, and he was briefed on the position of the United States.
On the 15th of the previous day, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi also had a telephone consultation with U.S. Defense Secretary Hegesse. On the same day, the prime minister received a report from the relevant ministries and agencies at the prime minister’s official residence for about two hours, and is working to grasp the intentions of the U.S. side.
The Japanese government is strongly concerned with the current situation in Iran, and the Government of Japan is not in the “existential crisis situation” that can exercise the right of collective self-defense and the “ material impact situation ” that conducts logistical support activities of the U.S. military.
The Prime Minister responded that it was “legally difficult” for maritime security actions based on the Self-Defense Forces Act on the 16th, but Mr. Koizumi said, “It is institutionally possible to protect ships related to Japan.” He said that maritime security actions are the exercise of police powers and that the use of weapons against other countries is not envisaged, but that “the use of weapons itself as a natural right for self-preservation shall not be excluded.”
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