Only Japan, a country without a Navy, contemplates sending warships

Europe has said “no”, and the only support on the table comes from Japan, an economic power with a fundamental limitation: It does not have a conventional Navy.

“Legally, we do not rule out the possibility of issuing a maritime security order, but we must make a decision with caution,” warned the head of the policy council, Takayuki Kobayashi.

The American president warned this Sunday, in an interview with the Financial Times, that NATO faces a “very bad” future if US allies do not help open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump declared that could postpone his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinpingscheduled for later this month, as it pressures Beijing to help unblock the crucial waterway.

“It is logical that those who benefit from the StraitHelp ensure that nothing bad happens there”Trump declared to the newspaper.

Tokyo’s response responds to the request that the president raised this Saturday through his social network Truth Social in which he dictated that those who receive most of this crude oil and pay nothing for its protection, must be therein Hormuz, right now.

The US president’s strategy of imposing economic sanctions on Iran has caused an escalation of military incidents and attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf.

These actions have pushed shipping companies stop transiting the area, multiplying maritime insurance premiums by six, reaching the price of a barrel of Brent above $100.

Support without the Navy

Tokyo’s decision to consider sending ships represents an exception in his diplomatic career recent.

Officially, Japan does not have a Navybut the Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF). Their ships are not warships in the strict legal sense, but rather tools for protecting the national territory.

After the defeat in World War II, JJapan drafted a Constitution under American supervision which included the famous Article 9.

In it, Japan forever renounces the sovereign right of war and to maintain land, sea or air forces with war potential.

Current regulations allow Japanese ships to exercise the right to self-defense in the event of being directly attacked.

However, the current legal framework generates a operational paralysis against attacks on ships of third nations, even if they sail in the vicinity.

This legal restriction forces the Tokyo Government to design a strictly preventive deployment, focused on surveillance and information gathering missions.

The operation will be limited to low intensity areas to avoid the core of greatest friction in the strait and prevent its presence from being interpreted by Iran as a hostile intervention force.

Responses in Europe

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to US President Donald Trump about the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to end disruptions to global shipping, a spokeswoman for Downing Street.

Starmer also spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and both leaders discussed the impact of the continued closure of the strait on international shipping, the spokeswoman said.

Starmer and Carney agreed continue talks on the Middle East conflict at a meeting this Monday.

For its part, Germany formally expressed its skepticism given the possibility of expanding the European Union’s naval mission, Operation Aspides, towards the Strait of Hormuz.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Johann Wadephul, said this Sunday in an interview with the network ARD that the Current work to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea is not proving effective.

According to Wadephul, these doubts about the current operation of the mission are the basis for his refusal to extend the radius of action of the European ships to the new conflict zone.

The outcome of this trade and energy crisis now falls on the unilateral determination of the White House.

Trump has stated that, “if necessary,” the US Navy will begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz imminently.

This stance seeks to restore maritime flow through force, regardless of the level of external support obtained to date.

In parallel, the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Scott Bessent, has insisted on the possibility of creating an “international coalition” to distribute the operational and political burden of securing the passage.

However, in the face of German skepticism, European fragmentation and the legal limitations of Japanese pacifism, Bessent’s proposal shows a lack of strategic partners.