海自派遣、自民会議で支持相次ぐ　野党は再考要求

　自民党は９日、外交部会・国防部会などの合同会議を開き、中東情勢について議論した。岸田文雄政調会長が冒頭、「事態がエスカレートしないことを期待しつつ、推移を慎重に見極めなければならない」と指摘。出席者によると、海上自衛隊の中東派遣について「緊張感が高まっているからこそ派遣すべきだ」といった意見が相次いだ。
　小野寺五典元防衛相は記者団に「日本船舶が安全に運航するためには情報収集が大変重要だ」と強調した。
　一方、主要野党も合同ヒアリングを実施。国民民主党の渡辺周元防衛副大臣は、派遣が閣議決定された昨年末から状況が悪化したとして、政府側に「一回足を止めて、考え直すべきだ」と再考を迫った。（2020/01/09-12:08）

Many members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party called on the government Thursday to dispatch a Maritime Self-Defense Force unit to the Middle East as planned.
   The MSDF dispatch should rather be materialized when tensions are heightening, they said at a joint meeting of the LDP's foreign affairs and national defense divisions, according to people with access to the meeting.
   Opinions in favor of the dispatch were expressed after LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida said in his initial remarks at the meeting that the party "should closely watch local situations while expecting no escalation of tensions" between the United States and Iran.
   Emerging from the meeting, former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters, "To ensure the safety of Japanese vessels' navigation (in the Middle East), information gathering is very important."
   The cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to send the MSDF unit to the unstable region for "research and study" purposes.