Japan to send 2 defense force planes for possible Mideast airlift
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan will send two Self-Defense Forces airplanes to East Africa for a possible operation to evacuate its nationals from the Middle East, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Thursday, amid the escalating Israel-Iran conflict.
Nakatani told reporters that two C-2 transport aircraft with a total of about 120 crew members will fly to an SDF base in Djibouti and be on standby there, following a request from Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya earlier that day.
The planes are likely to leave Japan on Saturday, sources familiar with the matter said.
"The situation in the Middle East has become more strained as Israel and Iran continue tit-for-tat attacks," Nakatani said, while stressing that the government "is still at the preparatory stage for a possible transportation" of Japanese citizens.
The ministry is confirming how many of the about 280 Japanese nationals in Iran and 1,000 in Israel wish to flee the countries. Before the departure of the C-2s, about 10 SDF personnel left Japan for the Middle East to gather information, Nakatani said.
Japan is also planning to evacuate by bus around 90 nationals and their family members from Tehran to neighboring Azerbaijan while also offering those living in Israel the option of a bus evacuation to Jordan, according to a government source.
Israel said Friday it has begun striking nuclear facilities and military targets in Iran, its regional archrival, triggering retaliatory attacks by Tehran. Tensions have been further fueled by speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump may decide to join the Israeli attacks.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
an hour ago
- Kyodo News
Japan court awards asylum seekers damages over prolonged detention
KYODO NEWS - 4 minutes ago - 20:13 | All, Japan A Japanese district court has ordered the state to pay a total of 1.2 million yen ($8,260) in compensation to two asylum seekers, ruling that in some cases their repeated detentions by the country's immigration agency did not take account of their physical and mental conditions. Deniz, a Kurdish man in his 40s with Turkish nationality, and Heydar Safari Diman, an Iranian national in his 50s, sought about 30 million yen in damages, after they were detained and released several times over the space of more than a decade. They filed the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court in 2022 focusing on their treatment from 2016. The ruling handed down on Tuesday said that on some occasions, they were detained despite deteriorating health conditions, such as a diagnosis of depression. "We cannot say the necessity of detention overrode their physical and mental disadvantages," the court said, ruling that some of their detentions violated the International Covenants on Human Rights and amounted to unjust physical restraint prohibited by Japan's immigration law. The plaintiffs also questioned the immigration law itself, which allows detention without going through a review process such as trials, saying that it infringes the human rights covenants. But the court dismissed their claim on the grounds that their rights to a trial are guaranteed through a lawsuit seeking release. Masako Suzuki, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, underscored the significance of the ruling, telling a press conference that it "clearly acknowledges that there was a violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights in the detention." The Immigration Services Agency has said it will respond "appropriately" after reviewing details of the ruling, since some of its claims were not upheld. According to the complaint, Deniz, who declined to give his surname for fear of retaliation against his family in Turkey, and Safari Diman had both overstayed their visas and were subsequently repeatedly detained by the Immigration Services Agency. From 2016 to 2020, they were detained several times for a total of more than three and a half years each, the complaint said. They have been on provisional releases since the spring of 2020, according to their supporters. Seeking help from the international community, the two had notified a U.N. expert panel on arbitrary detention of their cases, leading the panel to release an opinion in 2020 that found their deprivation of liberty was "arbitrary" and contravened human rights covenants. Related coverage: FEATURE: Hate speech bringing unwanted focus on Japan's Kurdish community FOCUS: Female Afghan refugees facing legal limbo, deportation in Pakistan No. of foreign residents in Japan hits record high for 3rd year
2 hours ago
Japan to Survey Farmers on Rice Production Intentions
News from Japan Society Jun 19, 2025 19:05 (JST) Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will survey rice farmers about their production intentions for the next year as well as in five and 10 years, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday. By understanding farmers' medium- and long-term plans on planting areas and others, the government aims to promote the drastic review of its rice policy. It will ask farmers to respond via an online questionnaire until the end of July. "It's essential to realize policies to create an environment in which farmers can produce (rice) with peace of mind in the future," Koizumi said. Currently, subsidies support crop conversion to limit rice production and stabilize prices of the Japanese staple food. The government hopes to study to what extent farmers can increase production ahead of the possible review in the current scheme. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Israel strikes Iranian nuclear sites; missiles hit Israeli hospital
WASHINGTON/DUBAI/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the U.S. would join Israel in airstrikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to press on with Israel's biggest ever attack on Iran until his arch enemy's nuclear program is destroyed, said Tehran's "tyrants" would pay the "full price."
