The Japanese Cabinet approved Friday the dispatch of Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel to the Middle East for information-gathering activities to help ensure the safety of a key oil shipping lane.
Japan's contribution to peace in the Mideast comes as tensions remain high between the United States and Iran over a 2015 nuclear deal, with Washington blaming Tehran for a series of attacks on oil tankers.
Japan has decided not to join a U.S.-led coalition guarding ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz so as to avoid hurting its friendly ties with Iran. The United States pulled out of the multinational deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program last year, re-imposing economic sanctions on the country.
A helicopter-carrying vessel and P-3C patrol planes will be sent along with around 260 MSDF personnel to engage in a one-year "survey and research" mission, which needs no parliamentary approval.
The government is considering deploying them in late January after about a month of training, according to government sources.
Areas for the mission are limited to the Gulf of Oman, the northern part of the Arabian Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Strait of Hormuz has been excluded in view of Iran's criticism of the U.S. coalition initiative.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave the nod to the planned MSDF dispatch during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo last week, according to a Japanese government official.
(Foreign tourists in veils seen on a passenger boat with the Iranian flag amass in the waters of Strait of Hormuz as an oil tanker is seen on the move in the background)
[Getty/Kyodo]
Safe passage of vessels in the area is vital for Japan, which relies on the Middle East for over 90 percent of its crude oil. But sending the SDF overseas is a sensitive issue in the country, as entanglement in a foreign conflict could violate its war-renouncing Constitution.
The Japanese public is divided over the dispatch, with 51.5 percent of respondents in a recent Kyodo News poll opposing the plan and 33.7 percent expressing support.
In an emergency, the MSDF could engage in maritime policing action based on the SDF law, which allows personnel to take necessary actions, including the use of weapons, at sea to safeguard Japanese lives and property.
The government initially explored the possibility of extending protection to foreign ships with Japanese nationals aboard, but it decided to limit protection to Japanese-registered vessels as international maritime law only permits the use of force to protect a country's own vessels, the sources said.
Most ships associated with Japanese shipping companies operate under foreign countries' flags, they said.
The government will be required to report to parliament when the Cabinet makes decisions such as extension or termination of the MSDF Middle East mission.
The creation of the U.S.-led coalition in November follows a series of attacks in May and June on oil tankers, including one operated by a Japanese shipping firm, in the Gulf region.
The coalition was launched with the United States and six other countries -- Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Washington had called for participation of its longtime ally Japan and other countries in the coalition, but many have expressed reservations or distanced themselves from the initiative, partly due to economic interests in Iran.
Related coverage:
Japan's naval dispatch to Mideast seen as "product of compromise"
Japan gets Iran's backing for sending SDF to Middle East
Japan seeks approval for SDF dispatch to Middle East by year-end
Japan mulls SDF dispatch to Mideast without joining U.S. coalition
