Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged on Monday that tensions in the Middle East have noticeably been easing and that the opportunity should be used for finding peaceful solutions
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2020) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged on Monday that tensions in the Middle East have noticeably been easing and that the opportunity should be used for finding peaceful solutions.
"There has been a tendency toward reducing tensions due to the restraint of interested parties. It is very important to use this opportunity and move towards a peaceful, dialogue-based solution to various issues in the region [the Middle East]," Abe told reporters.
Abe is currently visiting the United Arab Emirates where he is set to meet Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Before the UAE, Abe made a stop in Saudi Arabia, where he met Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The next leg of his Middle East tour is Oman.
During Abe's visit to Saudi Arabia, the sides reportedly agreed on the need for joint efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East as a military conflict in the region would threaten global stability.
The situation in the region escalated at the beginning of January after a US drone strike killed one of Iran's top military commanders, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad. Iran responded by attacking two Iraqi bases housing US military personnel. That same day, Iranian forces also accidentally shot down a Kiev-bound passenger aircraft, mistaking it for a hostile cruise missile. This error triggered mass protests over the weekend in Iran as the people took to the streets to demand action against those responsible for the fatal crash.
