Japan to Carefully Consider Minesweeping in Strait of Hormuz

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)–Sending a Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeping unit to the Strait of Hormuz after a ceasefire is reached between the U.S.-Israeli side and Iran could be an option for Japan to take to help ensure the safety of the critical oil transport waterway. The MSDF has a high ability to remove naval mines. An MSDF unit was dispatched to the Persian Gulf in 1991, after the end of the Gulf War, for a minesweeping mission. Still, the government plans to carefully study whether to send an MSDF unit to the Strait of Hormuz while watching moves by other countries and taking into account domestic laws and impacts on Japan’s domestic defense system. It is considering how Japan can contribute to safe ship navigation in the strait, which has been effectively blocked by Iran amid its fighting with the United States and Israel. At Wednesday’s meeting of the House of Councillors Budget Committee, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that the government will make a decision on whether to send an MSDF minesweeping unit in the future “in accordance with the law while monitoring the situation.” She also said that it is unclear whether naval mines have been laid in the Strait of Hormuz and whether and when a ceasefire agreement will be reached between the U.S.-Israeli side and Iran. U.S. President Donald Trump urged Japan to make contributions to ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz when he met with Takaichi in Washington on March 19. “Minesweeping after a ceasefire is reached will be an option for Japan,” a senior Defense Ministry official said. The government is negative about designating the current situation over Iran as a survival-threatening situation, in which Japan can exercise its right to collective self-defense, or as a situation that has a serious influence on the country’s peace and security, where it can provide logistical support. The government believes that it is difficult to engage in minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz while the United States and Iran are in conflict as it would be regarded as an act of combat. Meanwhile, removing mines left after the end of fighting would be possible under Article 84 of the Self-Defense Forces law. The MSDF’s minesweeping capability is highly evaluated internationally. It has disposed of about 7,000 naval mines laid by Japan and the United States around Japan during the Pacific War, part of World War II, and removed 34 mines in the Persian Gulf after the Gulf War. The MSDF conducts minesweeping and disposal training every year in waters around Iwoto, a remote Tokyo island widely known as Iwo Jima. If the government decides to send an MSDF minesweeping unit to the Strait of Hormuz, it would need to address challenges such as ensuring the safety of personnel to be dispatched and making sure that the domestic surveillance and warning system is not affected. The MSDF has 16 minesweepers, including nine that are made of wood to avoid damage from mines that detonate by detecting magnetism and sound. As minesweepers lack sufficient air defense capabilities, they may need to be escorted by destroyers or Aegis ships equipped with an advanced air defense radar system in certain areas for their defense. With China trying to expand its presence in the Pacific Ocean and North Korea promoting nuclear and missile development, there could be a risk of a flaw appearing in Japan’s peacetime surveillance and warning system if a possible SDF mission in the Middle East continues for a long period, pundits said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]