Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Tehran has moved to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies pass. The crisis has sent oil prices surging and markets reeling. For Japan, which relies on the Persian Gulf for some 90% of its crude imports, the implications are immediate and severe.
mandag 23. mars 2026
Japan Is back – but not the version Washington wants
When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi planned her visit to the Oval Office, she was hoping to showcase something familiar: Japan’s renewed commitment to defense spending, alliance coordination, and economic investment in the United States. Instead, on Thursday, she had to walk into a different conversation shaped by a widening war in the Middle East.
Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Tehran has moved to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies pass. The crisis has sent oil prices surging and markets reeling. For Japan, which relies on the Persian Gulf for some 90% of its crude imports, the implications are immediate and severe.
Following US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, Tehran has moved to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies pass. The crisis has sent oil prices surging and markets reeling. For Japan, which relies on the Persian Gulf for some 90% of its crude imports, the implications are immediate and severe.