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Military
Iranian Embassy in Tokyo: No to Foreign Troops in the Region
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Tokyo- (PanOrient News)The Iranian embassy in Tokyo said in a statement that the "deployment of foreign troops" to the region "does not seem to contribute to regional peace, stability or security in the Middle East,” and that Iran has proposed the Hormuz Peace Initiative (#HOPE) as a useful national foundation for alleviating regional tensions.
The statement, released Friday evening on the embassy's Twitter account, asked “friendly countries” to support the initiative with action at the appropriate time and fulfill international obligations to ensure navigational security.
The statement came in the same day that the Japanese cabinet approved the dispatch of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel to the Middle East for information-gathering activities to help ensure the safety of a key oil shipping lane.
Two Japanese P-3C patrol planes, which are currently based in Djibouti for anti-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden, and a helicopter-carrying destroyer will be sent, along with around 260 MSDF personnel to engage in a one-year survey and research mission, which needs no parliamentary approval. They will be dispatched later next year.
Japanese officials said Iran showed understanding toward the MSDF mission, which avoids a U.S.-led coalition guarding ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, naval units from Iran, Russia and China were launched on the same day, Friday morning, in a four-day joint wargame in the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Oman area, in a bid to deter U.S. efforts to instigate insecurity in the region.
The maneuver, under the code name Marine Security Belt, is aimed at promoting the security of international trade in strategic regions, as well as sharing experience in maritime rescue operations.
The event is the first such cooperation with Iran since the 1979 victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. (PanOrient News)
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