Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The Overseas Japanese Nationals Safety Division of Japan’s Foreign Ministry has raised the “danger level” of the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Qatar – from zero to one.

The Ministry has four levels of danger, with level four recommending immediate evacuation. They describe Level zero as showing no indication of danger, while level 1 says people must “take extensive caution.”

The announcement, as posted by the Foreign Ministry, gave similar information for all three countries. It justified raising the danger level by referring to the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel and the United States in June, as well as several exchanges of missiles between Israel and Iran that have caused numerous casualties.

The Ministry warns: “The possibility of the situation in the Middle East rapidly worsening cannot be ruled out. The Iranian Foreign Minister has already stated that Iran reserves all options to protect its sovereignty, interests, and people.”

The statement suggested that Japan citizens residing in Oman, the UAE and Qatar need to always be vigilant by obtaining the latest security information and taking appropriate and sufficient safety measures adding that terrorism can occur anywhere and that Japanese people can also be targets. The warning recommends its citizens to check the latest information on terrorism and kidnapping as well as the “situation surrounding US military facilities, from multiple sources and to make efforts to ensure your own safety.”

The Ministry says that terrorism occurs all over the world, including Europe, the US and Asia, and Japanese victims of terrorism have been confirmed in Tunisia, Belgium, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other countries.

The Japanese warning noted that there have been cases of lone-offender terrorism by single perpetrators and terrorism targeting people in restaurants, shopping malls and public transportation. “It is difficult to prevent such terrorist attacks from occurring,” the information states.