Tokyo Categorically Denies Providing Funds to Tehran for Its Tanker's Passage Through the Strait of Hormuz

The Japanese government has categorically denied reports that it paid financial sums to Iranian authorities in exchange for allowing the oil tanker "Idemitsu Maru" to pass through the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. Japanese government sources clarified that the ship's passage was the fruit of intensive diplomatic negotiations between Tokyo and Tehran, without any financial settlements involved. It is worth noting that the tanker, owned by "Idemitsu Kosan" and loaded with approximately two million barrels of oil, had remained anchored off the Saudi coast since late February to avoid security risks, following regional tensions and Iran's announcement of the strait's closure, before recently reopening it to ships of friendly nations.