January 8, 2020

Japanese Communist Party Diet Policy Commission Chair Kokuta Keiji on January 7 handed a JCP statement on the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general to his counterpart in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and requested that the statement be conveyed to the government.

The statement was published on the previous day in the name of JCP Chair Shii Kazuo in reaction to a report that the U.S. military killed top Iranian general Soleimani in Iraq under the orders of President Donald Trump. The statement condemns the use of force by the Trump administration as being outrageous and calls for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing U.S.-Iran crisis.

In response to Kokuta, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Moriyama Hiroshi said that he will fully communicate the JCP assessment of the situation to the government.

Kokuta said to Moriyama that the U.S. assassination of the Iranian commander constitutes a violation of the UN Charter and international law and that it is necessary to make efforts to de-escalate the situation in order to avoid war.

Noting that the Abe government plans to dispatch Self-Defense Force units to the Middle East, Kokuta stressed that Japan, with its peaceful relationships with Middle Eastern nations, has a role to play other than sending SDF troops.

He claimed that now that the Trump administration has taken military action, the Middle East situation should be thoroughly discussed in the Diet.

Kokuta said, “The issue needs to be considered as having great importance both internationally and domestically. The government should hold discussions on the matter by using various occasions, including meetings between the prime minister and the leaders of political parties.”