Japan’s Sanae Takaichi seeks talks with Iran’s leader before ultimatum

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TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she is looking to hold talks with Iran’s leader and possibly also a separate call with US President Donald Trump, as the clock ticks on Mr Trump’s latest threat to bomb key Iranian infrastructure. 

“We are currently making preparations for leadership-level talks,” Ms Takaichi said of talks with Iran during a parliamentary session on April 6.

“We will continue to do everything in our power to find an off-ramp to this situation and return to peace.”

Ms Takaichi’s comments came with Mr Trump warning Tehran that the US will bomb Iranian power plants unless it opens up the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point through which Japan secures more than 90 per cent of its oil.

Ms Takaichi said that Japan would do what it can ahead of the April 7 ultimatum set by Mr Trump, suggesting that she was also seeking a phone call with Mr Trump, though nothing has been finalised yet. 

Whether Japan can help defuse tensions or even play a mediation role remains unclear, but the nation has a key interest in maintaining a working relationship with a country that currently controls passage through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Two Japanese ships successfully traversed the waterway in recent days for the first time since the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran more than a month ago.

Ms Takaichi said the Japanese government was in close communication with the relevant parties, including shipping firms, and had provided necessary information, but she declined to give details on interaction with individual companies. 

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has held talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, who previously served as ambassador to Japan.

Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines confirmed on April 3 that a liquefied natural gas tanker it partly owns made the crossing.

Another liquefied petroleum gas tanker owned by a subsidiary of the company exited the strait on April 4, according to media reports. 

The LNG tanker was not bound for Japan and the Japanese government was not involved in negotiations concerning the passage, according to an Asahi newspaper report that cited an unidentified government official. 

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on April 6 that 43 Japan-linked vessels remain stuck in the strait. 

Professor Koichiro Tanaka, a former diplomat currently teaching at Keio University, says that what is playing out in the Middle East is also a question of who will take on the role as “guarantor” for the region. 

Refusal by the US to take on that role would open up a gap that China might fill, given its reliance on the region for oil and energy, he said. 

“The point here is that, is it going to be really, really admissible for the United States President, or even for the United States military, to allow China to have a big say, a bigger role to play in the Indian Ocean as well as here in the Persian Gulf region?” he said. 

On the more immediate impact to the economy, the Japanese government is scrambling to shore up its energy supplies.

Japan remains dependent on the Middle East not just for oil and energy, but also for naphtha, which is likely to impact petrochemical production and the supply of plastic products from food packaging and medical syringes to car parts and industrial components. 

On April 5, Ms Takaichi said the nation had eight months of oil reserves and was securing other supplies.

She denied a media report saying that Japan would be unable to secure naphtha supply by June. 

“We have at least four months’ worth of domestic demand of naphtha stockpiled,” Ms Takaichi posted on social media, saying the stockpile was a mix of imports, domestic production and midstream products. 

She said that the government was looking to diversify suppliers for midstream products as well.

“The report saying ‘By June, Japan will no longer be able to ensure supplies’ is mistaken,” she added. BLOOMBERG