TOKYO, March 21. /TASS/. Tehran is "ready to allow" vessels connected with Japan to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after appropriate consultations with Tokyo, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with the Kyodo news agency.
"We haven’t closed the strait. It’s open," he said. Araghchi noted that consultations with Tokyo regarding the passage of vessels connected with Japan through the Strait of Hormuz have already begun, the agency said, without citing a quote.
Iranian officials said earlier they would not allow any oil cargo related to the United States and its allies to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tokyo traditionally maintains friendly relations with Tehran. However, Japanese authorities have consistently refrained from directly assessing the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Officially, they merely voiced their position on the inadmissibility of the Islamic Republic developing nuclear weapons, and called for a diplomatic solution. That said, Japanese leaders have criticized Iran for its retaliatory strikes on the Persian Gulf states.
Japan receives approximately 95% of its oil from Middle Eastern countries, with most of supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.