It seems Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finds it easier to spread reassuring messages in the Middle East than at home in Japan.
During his mid-January trip to the region, when tensions were high after the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and Iran's downing of a Ukrainian commercial airliner, he said: "I hope to contribute to peace and stability in the region through diplomatic efforts to ease tensions."
