Tokyo on a tightrope: Japan’s impossible choices in the Iran war
Ambiguity is not a posture one can hold indefinitely
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Published Wed, May 13, 2026 · 06:00 PM
WHEN Sanae Takaichi became Japan’s first female prime minister in 2025, she inherited a foreign policy in-tray most of her predecessors would have recognised – a rising China, a transactional American president, and a region in which Tokyo’s room for manoeuvre was steadily narrowing.
What she did not expect was a war.
On Feb 28, the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, destroying much of Teheran’s military and political leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
