ISE/TOKYO: Yukio Edano, leader of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, on Saturday called for an active debate on the government's plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces troops to the Middle East, amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

"Fundamental discussions are needed in parliament on whether SDF troops should be dispatched," Edano told a news conference in Ise, Mie Prefecture, central Japan.

Edano expressed concerns that the killing by the US military of Iran's Gen. Qasem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, would "extremely heighten tensions in the Middle Eastern region."

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, another major opposition party, told reporters in Ise that "the possibility cannot be ruled out of a military clash" following the killing of Iran's military commander by the United States.

"I oppose the dispatch of SDF troops based on vague legal grounds," Tamaki said.

Japanese Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii said at a party meeting in Tokyo, "We strongly criticize the (United States') pre-emptive attack that ignored the UN Charter and military provocations."

Shii urged the United States to return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

JIJI Press