From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 16, 2026
Japan not currently mulling maritime ops despite Trump pressure over Hormuz Strait
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Japan says it is not currently thinking about ordering maritime security operations, after US President Donald Trump called for other countries to send warships to help protect the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.
“In the current Iran situation, we are not at the moment considering issuing a maritime security operation,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi tells parliament.
Trump called for reinforcements on Saturday from countries including Japan after earlier vowing that the US Navy would “very soon” begin escorting tankers through the vital shipping lane for oil in the Middle East.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says that she has not received a request from Trump.
“The question is what Japan should do on our own initiative and what’s possible within our legal framework, rather than what’s requested by the United States,” she tells parliament. “We have asked various sections of various ministries to discuss this.”
Any maritime security operation would be “extremely difficult legally,” she adds.
Sending its Self-Defense Forces abroad is politically sensitive in officially pacifist Japan, as many voters support the US-imposed, war-renouncing 1947 constitution.
Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said yesterday the threshold was “extremely high” for Tokyo to send in its warships.
The Times of Israel Community.