TOKYO -- Japan looks to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces on an intelligence gathering mission around the Persian Gulf early next year to help secure a key shipping route.
The government is working to secure approval for the mission from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet this month. This deployment of SDF personnel would involve sharing intelligence with Operation Sentinel, the U.S.-led naval coalition tasked with securing the Strait of Hormuz following attacks on oil tankers that Washington blames on Iran. Operation Sentinel is set to be fully underway in January.
