Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has tried to carve out a role mediating between Washington and Tehran, said Monday he was "deeply worried" by tensions in the Middle East.
The US killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani last week has raised fears of an all-out conflict, with President Donald Trump threatening "major retaliation" if Tehran makes good on a pledge to avenge the killing.
"Middle Eastern tensions are increasing. I'm deeply worried about the current situation," Abe said in his first comments since the killing of Soleimani in Iraq.
Abe repeated his plans to deploy the Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East to ensure the safety of its ships, even after the eruption of tensions in the region.
At a televised news conference on Monday, Abe called on nations involved to make diplomatic efforts to ease tensions and avoid further escalation.
“Further escalation should be avoided and I call on all parties concerned to exhaust all diplomatic effort to ease tensions,” Abe told reporters in Ise, central Japan.
“We plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to this region to strengthen information gathering and secure the safe passage of Japan-related ships,” Abe said, reiterating a plan unveiled last month ahead of the latest flare-up in tensions.
Tokyo and Tehran have maintained diplomatic ties for decades, even through the crisis with the West sparked by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and subsequent frictions over its nuclear program.
In June, as tensions rose over Trump's decision to withdraw from a nuclear deal with Tehran, Abe visited Iran for talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.
But his visit coincided with a suspected attack on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman, off the Iranian coast, which again sent tensions in the Gulf soaring.
And Khamenei categorically ruled out talks with Trump despite Abe's efforts to smooth a path.
Abe later met Rouhani on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and in December welcomed the Iranian leader to Japan -- the first visit by an Iranian head of state in two decades.
