G-7 Foreign Chiefs Call for Safe Navigation in Hormuz

Cernay-la-Ville, France, March 27 (Jiji Press)–The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major countries adopted a joint statement at their two-day meeting near Paris, France, through Friday, calling for safe ship navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. “We reiterated the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” they said. The strait, currently under a de facto blockade by Iran, is a major oil chokepoint. While avoiding criticizing Iran directly, the G-7 foreign chiefs said, “We call upon an immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.” Usually, a G-7 foreign ministers’ statement addresses the global situation in general. Therefore, France, which chaired the latest meeting, had initially planned to skip such a statement mainly due to differences between the United States and European nations over their views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, France led the G-7 members, which include Japan, Britain, Canada, German, Italy and the United States, as well as the European Union, to issue the latest statement by limiting its scope to the situation surrounding Iran. After the meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters, “All participating nations agreed on the importance of bringing the situation under control as soon as possible.” Motegi also said that, at the meeting, he presented Japan’s position on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan-China relations. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]