Japan gets around 90% of its oil shipments from Persian Gulf states, making it one of the countries most affected by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Because of this, U.S. President Donald Trump hoped he could pressure Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, when he met with her on March 19 in the White House, urging her to “step up” to enforce free passage in the Strait. However, during their news conference after the summit, Takaichi said she had “clearly conveyed Japan’s position” to the President, since Japan’s constitution only allows military deployments for purposes of self-defense.
Despite this, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, attempting to pump up the Trump administration’s narrative, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on March 22: “We just had the Japanese Prime Minister commit to portions of her navy and the Japanese navy.… So we are seeing our allies come around as they should.”
