00:00Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has met Japanese Prime Minister Sanai Takeichi
00:04in Tokyo. Macron says France and Japan agree on the need for a ceasefire in Iran.
00:14We both advocate for a return to peace, a ceasefire, calm and free passage through the
00:21Strait of Hormuz. It's also why since February 2022, Japan has consistently stood alongside
00:28the Europeans to reiterate the importance of a just and lasting peace and respect for
00:34international law. Speaking alongside Macron, Takeichi stressed maritime security and de-escalation.
00:44Regarding the situation in the Middle East, including Iran, we confirmed the importance
00:50of ensuring the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, maintaining stable supply of critical
00:56goods and achieving early de-escalation. We agreed to continue close communication.
01:03In the field of economic security, we shared serious concerns regarding export restrictions
01:08on critical minerals and other items. Going forward, Japan and France will cooperate
01:14strategically to strengthen supply chain resilience.
01:20Bluma, Japan politics and security reporter Alistair Gale joins us now from Tokyo. Alistair,
01:25this is a meeting of like-minded nations. What were some of the key takeaways?
01:31Well, Hasselinda, this was an opportunity for Japan and France to coordinate on the, obviously,
01:38the most pressing issue right now, which is the Strait of Hormuz and what comes next in terms of trying
01:44to get shipping back to something like normal. Of course, we've also heard from President Trump
01:49in the last few hours about this and his expectation is other countries will be the ones that need to
01:55go in and get the oil, as he says. So it's, I'd say the main takeaway is just an opportunity
02:01to really kind of coordinate, think about how they would do this. We know that there's a call later
02:07today that the UK is organizing, that we expect Japan and France to both be on to try and come
02:13up
02:13with some kind of plan to move forward. You know, there's obviously a few aspects to this.
02:20There's diplomacy. So both Japan, well, certainly Japan has good relations with Iran. So that France
02:27might be looking and other countries might be looking at Japan to try and work with Iran diplomatically.
02:32There's the economic aspect to this as well. Would there be some kind of economic pressure on Iran
02:40from the countries that really have skin in the game when it comes to oil exports? So the main takeaway
02:46is really a chance to kind of compare notes and to think about how to strategize together to fix that
02:52particular problem. And a key question is really when they could play an expanded role in this Iran war.
03:00And some have suggested that it will only be when the war has subsided.
03:07That's right. I mean, both leaders have been quite clear that they're only thinking of having some
03:12kind of, you know, if militaries are involved, and it's not clear yet that they will be. President
03:18Trump, of course, said in the last few hours that he expects the whole situation to die down. It'd be
03:23relatively easy to get ships through the Strait of Hormuz. That may or may not be the case. But if
03:28it's the
03:28case that you need some kind of show of force to ensure that ships can pass freely, then that's a
03:36big question for countries like Japan, which has been traditionally very wary of sending military
03:42assets overseas. But it has a heavy reliance on oil ship through the Strait of Hormuz. So it needs to
03:49come up with some way to show that it's willing to sort of commit what's necessary to make passage safe.
03:55And of course, you know, Trump's, the main focus of Trump's ire has been NATO countries like France. So
04:02what will they do? So this European-Asia coordination is really an important aspect to this particular
04:08problem.
04:08You
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