Japan says bar for sending warships to Strait of Hormuz 'extremely high’

ISTANBUL

Japan on Sunday said that the threshold for Tokyo to send its warships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz is "extremely high."

“I regard the threshold as extremely high” for sending navy ships to the region under existing Japanese laws, Takayuki Kobayashi, policy chief of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

“Legally speaking, we do not rule out the possibility, but given the current situation in which this conflict is ongoing, I believe this is something that must be considered with great caution,” Kobayashi added

He made the remarks hours after US President Donald Trump said that countries affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Strait of Hormuz will send warships in conjunction with the US to keep the strait “open and safe.”

In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump urged China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump claimed that the US has destroyed "100% of Iran’s military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are.”

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz since early March. This came following the launch of joint attacks by Israel and the US against Iran on Feb. 28, which have so far killed more than 1,200 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hostilities have since escalated.

Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets, resulting in casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.