The impact of higher prices for crude oil and other products caused by the conflict in Iran is increasingly being felt in Japan. Public bus operators are struggling to procure fuel, and farmers expect fertilizer to get even more expensive. Senior officials representing six cities including Kobe, Kyoto and Nagoya visited the transport ministry on Monday. They submitted a request to ensure stable fuel supplies and provide financial assistance to public transport operators.
Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has instructed a newly launched government taskforce to ensure stable supplies of oil-related products amid the Middle East conflict. The government held a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday morning. The ministers were briefed on Japan’s diplomatic efforts in bringing the conflict under control.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday after three UN peacekeepers were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon. With fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based Shia Muslim group Hezbollah intensifying, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, has become a target of attacks.