Ishiba refrains from saying if Japan supports U.S. attacks on Iran
In this image taken from a video, a passerby holds a special edition of a newspaper in Tokyo on Sunday. The headline reads "U.S. attacks Iran's nuclear sites."
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Sunday Japan is following developments in Iran "with grave concern" after the United States attacked nuclear facilities in the Middle East nation, but he refrained from commenting whether Tokyo supports the attacks by its security ally.
Ishiba also told reporters after being briefed on the latest development that de-escalating the situation is "the most important."
While no impact on energy supplies has been confirmed so far, Ishiba said he instructed officials to monitor the situation with a sense of urgency and take all necessary measures. Resource-scarce Japan relies heavily on the Middle East for crude oil.
As the direct involvement of the United States raised tensions further in the Middle East, another batch of Japanese nationals and their family members were evacuated from Iran, following a group that arrived in neighboring Azerbaijan early Friday.
According to the Foreign Ministry, a total of 21 Japanese nationals and their family members had evacuated from Iran to Azerbaijan by bus, with none of them having any health issues.
Their departure came after 87 Japanese nationals and their family members departed from Iran and Israel last week.
Israel and Iran have engaged in tit-for-tat strikes since the former attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and military targets last week. Israel claims that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which the latter denies.
Following the evacuations, around 200 Japanese nationals are still in Iran, while around 1,000 remain in Israel, according to the ministry.
© KYODO
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
2 hours ago
- Kyodo News
U.S. enters war with Iran, Trump says key nuclear sites wiped out
KYODO NEWS - 10 hours ago - 13:00 | All, World U.S. airstrikes have "completely and totally obliterated" Iran's three key nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump said Saturday as Washington entered Israel's war against the Islamic Republic, threatening more attacks if Tehran does not change course. Trump said the U.S. objective in conducting "massive precision" strikes on the facilities was "the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror." "Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." Trump said earlier on social media that all planes had moved out of Iranian airspace, but his decision to directly involve the U.S. military in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran could lead to a wider war. He said "a full payload" of bombs was dropped on Fordo, a mountainous area in central Iran where the country's main underground uranium enrichment facility is located, and two other nuclear sites in Natanz and Isfahan. The attacks came after a week of mixed signals from Trump, with Israel reportedly asking the United States to join the airstrikes it began earlier this month targeting scores of locations in Iran, including those related to Tehran's nuclear program. His announcement that the United States had struck the nuclear facilities came after the White House said Thursday that he would make his decision on whether to bomb Iran within two weeks. In his address, Trump thanked and congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the United States and Israel "worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before." Trump warned that future attacks against Iran could be "far greater" if it refuses peace. "There are many targets left," he said. "Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill." The United States joining Israel's war against Iran is expected to escalate tensions, possibly including strikes on American troops and military bases in the Middle East. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recent video message that U.S. military participation in the conflict would result in irreparable consequences. U.S. media reported that B-2 stealth bombers and bunker-buster munitions were used in the operation, which came after Israel's attacks on Iran. Israel's attacks that began June 13 led to retaliation by Iran, including airstrikes on Tel Aviv, leaving many civilians dead and injured on both sides. Related coverage: 2 SDF planes leave Japan for Djibouti for possible Mideast evacuation Xi seeks Middle East cease-fire in phone call with Putin
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
US strikes on Iran not aimed at regime change, Pentagon chief says
A poster of "Operation Midnight Hammer" is displayed during a Pentagon briefing June 22 after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities. (Defense Department/via Reuters) WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. military's strikes on Iran's nuclear sites were not a preamble to plans for regime change, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday, adding that private messages had been sent to Tehran encouraging them to negotiate. Still, Hegseth warned Iran against following through with past threats of retaliation against the United States, and said U.S. forces were postured to defend themselves and take action if needed.
Kyodo News
2 hours ago
- Kyodo News
FOCUS: Tokyo rebuke puts Ishiba at risk in national election
By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - 21 minutes ago - 22:39 | All, Japan A sharp warning from voters for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's party in Sunday's Tokyo assembly election has signaled that his tenure could be at risk, with his ruling bloc in danger of losing its majority in the upcoming national vote. The House of Councillors election, expected to take place on July 20, is shaping up as a de facto referendum on Ishiba's leadership, as the ruling coalition led by his Liberal Democratic Party has already become a minority in the House of Representatives. Some observers, meanwhile, said the conflict in the Middle East -- exacerbated by U.S. air strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities -- may work in favor of Ishiba, who has held direct talks with President Donald Trump, in the upper house election. Voters tend to be reluctant to entrust government to the opposition, which has little governing experience in diplomacy and defense, especially as the geopolitical situation grows more severe -- notably those involving Japan's security ally, the United States, they said. A loss of majority in both chambers of parliament would likely put pressure on Ishiba to resign, triggering a power struggle within the LDP, with an eye on the politically advantageous timing of a lower house dissolution for a snap election. If he remains in power, attention is set to turn to whether an opposition party might join the government. Since he took office in October 2024, some relatively large opposition parties have supported bills and budgets after negotiating with the ruling camp. After media reports that the LDP performed poorly in Sunday's election, Shinji Inoue, head of the party's Tokyo chapter, told reporters with a somber expression that the outcome "will not have a direct impact" on the upper house election. As Ishiba decided not to dissolve the lower house to hold elections of both chambers on the same day, most parties have effectively begun campaigning mainly through social media following the end of this year's 150-day ordinary Diet session on Sunday. The LDP is trying to attract voters by highlighting its efforts to tackle soaring rice prices and navigate tough tariff talks with the United States, while opposition parties are pitching inflation relief measures, such as a high-stakes consumption tax cut. To maintain control of the 248-seat upper house, the LDP and its junior partner, the Komeito party, must retain a combined 125 seats. Elections for half the chamber are held every three years. In the 2022 election, the ruling bloc scored a decisive victory. As for the number of seats he aims to secure in the upper house election, Ishiba said winning a majority for the ruling coalition is the "bare minimum," as his Cabinet's approval ratings have recently bottomed out, despite still hovering around 30 percent. In 2022, the ruling camp picked up more than 70 seats in the upper house election, which came just days after LDP lawmaker and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated by a gunman -- an event that shocked the nation and galvanized party unity. Since media-savvy Shinjiro Koizumi became farm minister in May, Ishiba has pursued a more consumer-focused approach in his push to reform Japan's agricultural policy, amid increasing public frustration over rice prices which have nearly doubled from a year earlier. Emergencies in the Middle East may also underscore the leadership of Ishiba, who has served as defense minister, with Mayu Kondo, a 46-year-old female office worker in Tokyo, saying, "When the world is unstable, the seasoned ruling coalition is more reliable." So far, however, the results of upper house elections have not immediately caused a change in government as the prime minister is elected by the lower house, but they have triggered internal rifts within the LDP, including forcing its president to step down. After past upper house election defeats, then prime ministers -- Sosuke Uno, Ryutaro Hashimoto and Abe -- were eventually compelled to resign, as the ruling bloc's fading authority emboldened the opposition and stirred calls for leadership change. "As a transfer of power remains unlikely without a united opposition, the focus will be on whether the LDP might replace its leader to break the stalemate," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co. On the policy front, the LDP's upper house election campaign pledge to provide 20,000 yen ($137) in cash handouts designed to curb the negative impact of price hikes has failed to gain strong support, boding ill for Ishiba, long regarded as a fiscal hawk. "The policy is flawed in that cash handouts are distributed even to those who can afford to live comfortably," said Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute, adding, "It has therefore become what many view as a blatant giveaway." July 20 falls on the middle day of a three-day holiday weekend in Japan.
