Japan was facing growing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran, as the clock ticked down to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to Washington for talks with Trump on Thursday.

Takaichi told parliament a day earlier that Tokyo is not currently planning to deploy Self-Defense Forces ships to escort vessels in the Middle East, after Trump called for Japan and others to send warships to help secure the strait.

The prime minister said that no decision had been made “regarding the dispatch of escort vessels,” but she left the door open for other options, saying Tokyo is “examining what Japan can do independently and what is possible within the legal framework.”

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