Japan plans to send a warship and two patrol aircraft to the region to protect its merchant ships in the Middle East. According to a cabinet decision, the use of the aircraft is to begin in January and that of a destroyer in February. Among other things, the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden are to be covered.
Several merchant ships were attacked in the region in May and June, including a Japanese tanker. The United States has blamed Iran for this, the government in Tehran rejects it.
