Japan PM urges Iran to secure Hormuz shipping after ceasefire

TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday urged Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian to quickly calm tensions in the Middle East and ensure the safety of vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The two spoke on the telephone for 25 minutes, Takaichi said, during which she told Pezeshkian she welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Iran and the U.S.

"I also conveyed Japan's expectation that a final agreement will be reached at an early stage through diplomacy," she told reporters.

Japan relies on the Middle East for 90% of its oil, much of it passing through the strategic Hormuz waterway. Tokyo has had to tap its strategic energy reserves to cushion the economic blow of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The call came after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire under which Tehran is expected to halt its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Under the deal, Tehran is supposed to pause its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about a fifth of global oil shipments.

Takaichi said she also asked the Iranian president to fully resolve a case involving a Japanese national reported to have been held by Iran and later released on bail. In February, Radio Free Europe reported that public broadcaster NHK's Tehran bureau chief ​Shinnosuke Kawashima had been detained by ​Iranian authorities in January.