Motegi Hints at SDF Deployment for Hormuz Minesweeping

Tokyo, March 22 (Jiji Press)--Japan may send Self-Defense Forces troops for a minesweeping mission in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route, after a ceasefire is established, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Sunday.

"A dispatch of SDF troops is possible if a ceasefire is reached," Motegi said in a television program, adding that minesweeping might emerge as an issue.

He also revealed that Japan explained a policy to help double the production of Alaskan crude oil through Japanese investment during a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.

Looking back on the summit he attended, Motegi said the Japanese side told the U.S. side that there are things that Japan can do and cannot do legally regarding the dispatch of SDF troops.

Although specifics were not discussed at the summit, Trump nodded in agreement at the time, according to Motegi.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]