JAPAN MULLING WAYS TO ENSURE VESSEL SAFETY IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ: PM TAKAICHI

TOKYO, March 16 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Monday that the country is considering what it can do within its legal constraints to ensure the safety of Japanese-related vessels and their crews in West Asia amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Takaichi's remarks during a parliamentary session came after US President Donald Trump demanded in a social media post that other nations including Japan deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz to secure oil shipments.

Asked by an opposition lawmaker whether Japan would deploy Self-Defence Forces vessels, Takaichi said it is hard to answer a hypothetical question since the United States has yet to make such a request, but her government is mulling "necessary responses."

Takaichi also said she will convey Japan's views regarding the West Asia situation to Trump when they hold summit talks scheduled for later this week in Washington.

At the session, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the government has no plan "as of now" to send the SDF to West Asia, on which Japan depends for over 90 per cent of its crude oil and 11 per cent of its liquefied natural gas.

Trump said Saturday on social media that he wants Japan and other nations to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to ensure the safety of the vital energy shipping route, which Iran has effectively blocked in response to attacks launched by the United States and Israel late last month.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO