Japan foreign minister speaks about military deployment in the Strait of Hormuz for minesweeping

Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies, if a ​ceasefire is reached in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Foreign Minister ‌Toshimitsu Motegi said on Sunday.

"If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up," Motegi said during a Fuji TV programme. "This is ​purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established and naval mines ​were creating an obstacle, then I think that would be ⁠something to consider."

Japan's military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, ​but 2015 security legislation allows Japan to use its Self-Defense Forces overseas if ​an attack, including on a close security partner, threatens Japan's survival and no other means are available to address it.

Tokyo has no immediate plans to seek arrangements to allow ​passage through the Strait of Hormuz for stranded Japanese vessels, Motegi said, ​adding it was "extremely important" to create conditions that allow all ships to navigate through the ‌narrow ⁠waterway, the conduit for a fifth of the world's oil shipments.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Japan's Kyodo news agency on Friday that he had spoken to Motegi about potentially letting Japanese-related vessels pass through the strait.

Japan gets ​around 90% of its ​oil shipments via ⁠the strait, which Tehran has largely closed during the war, now in its fourth week. A spike in ​global oil prices has prompted Japan and other countries to from ⁠their reserves.

U.S. President Donald Trump met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday, urging her to "step up" as he presses allies - so far unsuccessfully - to ⁠to help ​open the strait.

told reporters after the ​Washington summit that she had briefed Trump on what support Japan could and could not provide ​in the strait under its laws.