JAPAN TIMES




 

As the Iran war expands across the Middle East, Japan has been accelerating efforts to evacuate its citizens — a response that underscores both Tokyo’s growing security role overseas and the diplomatic balancing act between Washington and Gulf states hosting Japanese nationals.

Late Sunday, 107 Japanese nationals arrived in Narita International Airport on a government-chartered aircraft as part of the ongoing evacuation effort from the Middle East. Tokyo has facilitated the evacuation of hundreds of Japanese nationals since the outbreak of hostilities in the region on Feb. 28, including 208 people who were evacuated from Doha to Riyadh by land for an arrival in Japan on Tuesday.

The effort demonstrated unprecedented speed and interagency coordination of government assets for the evacuation effort, while signaling Tokyo’s priority of protecting its citizens abroad amid the Iran conflict.

In contrast, for example, during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan the Japanese government took eight days to authorize the Self-Defense Forces to dispatch aircraft for the evacuation of Japanese nationals. SDF aircraft did not arrive in the region until 10 days after the fall of Kabul.

Over the past week, Iranian counter strikes have hitmore than a dozen regional countries, including airports and other infrastructure in places like the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. This has left many travelers stranded and seeking alternative options for leaving as the governments in Washington, Tel Aviv and Tehran have signaled their intent to continue military operations.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the completion of the most recent evacuation on social media, stating, “As the Government of Japan, we will continue to take every possible measure to protect Japanese nationals across the entire region, including countries around Iran.”

This includes the government’s decision to dispatch SDF aircraft in preparation for additional evacuations. On Sunday, the Defense Ministry announced that one of its aerial refueling and transport aircraft departed from Komaki Air Base and stopped over in the Maldives en route to the region.

The ministry did not disclose where the aircraft would be staging next, although the SDF base at Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti remains a possible option.