Japan Arranging Summit Talks with Iran: PM Takaichi

Jiji Press

14:50 JST, April 7, 2026

Tokyo, April 6 (Jiji Press)—The Japanese government is working to arrange summit talks over the phone between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and an Iranian leader, in an effort to help ease tensions in the Middle East at an early time, Takaichi said Monday.

“We are preparing to hold summit dialogue at an appropriate time,” Takaichi told a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament. She also said that the government is exploring every possible avenue to secure safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transport waterway, which has been effectively blocked by Iran.

The talks would be the first between the leaders of Japan and Iran since the start of U.S.-Israeli attacks on the Middle East country in late February. In the possible phone talks, Tokyo may request the release of a Japanese national detained in Iran.

While Takaichi did not specify who she would talk to in the phone dialogue, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said that her counterpart would be Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

At the Budget Committee meeting, the prime minister indicated that the government may call on the public to save energy and curb demand depending on the supply-demand situation, saying, “We will not rule out any possibilities and will respond flexibly.”

As for alternative sources of crude oil, Takaichi cited countries in Central Asia and Latin America as well as Canada and Singapore, which are believed to be able to increase production, in addition to the United States.

“We are making progress steadily in securing alternative procurement sources,” she said, adding that “Japan as a whole has secured the necessary amount..”

“There has been no problem in terms of stable electricity supply,” Takaichi also said.

In response to a question about whether Japan will attend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference to be held in November, Takaichi said, “We need to carefully consider the matter from the perspective of what is truly effective in ensuring Japan’s security and achieving substantial progress in nuclear disarmament.”