Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on the 30th regarding a summit with Iran, "We will comprehensively judge, based on national interests, the appropriate timing for dialogue."

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaking at the Diet [AFP Yonhap News]

Prime Minister Takaichi made this response to a question from an opposition party lawmaker at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting held on the same day.

Shinichi Isa, a lawmaker from the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, asked for Prime Minister Takaichi's views, stating, "Don't you think it's important for Japan to take the lead in mediating between the United States and Iran?"

Japan has historically maintained relatively friendly relations with Iran, and during the conflict between the US and Iran in 2019, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempted mediation by visiting Iran and meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

On the same day, Prime Minister Takaichi explained that the legal constraints, which he cited as reasons for the difficulty in dispatching ships to the Strait of Hormuz during his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on the 19th (local time), "include constitutional limitations."

He revealed that he had explained to reporters immediately after the meeting that "there are things that can be done within the scope of Japanese law, and things that cannot."