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On January 11, 2020, the Prime Minister held a press conference at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport).
 
Regarding his visit to the Middle East, the Prime Minister said,
 
“I am deeply concerned about the rising tensions in the Middle East. Meanwhile, we are currently seeing relevant countries behaving with self-restraint, and Japan values such responses. We must undertake further diplomatic efforts to ensure that such actions will lead to easing the tensions in the region and stabilizing the situation.
 
All the countries that I will visit this time – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman – are ones with great influence in the region. In light of our friendly relations up to this point, I intend to encourage dialogue through discussion and self-restraint as well as persistently advance a peace diplomacy that only Japan is capable of.
 
In addition to these diplomatic efforts, as Japan relies on this region for much of its energy resources, it is extremely important that we ensure the safe navigation of ships related to Japan. To that end, we must strengthen our information gathering capabilities. From that standpoint, we made the decision to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces.
 
When President Rouhani visited Japan recently, I explained such a rationale and obtained his understanding. During this visit as well, I hope to obtain the understanding of the relevant countries and continue to make thorough preparations for the dispatch.”