Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Friday refrained from clarifying the government's stance on allegations by Western nations that Iran has provided Russia with military drones used in the war in Ukraine.
"We are currently engaged in information collection and analysis, so it is hard for us to say anything definite regarding the facts at this point," Hayashi told a news conference, in apparent consideration of Tokyo's long-standing ties with Tehran.
The minister did condemn Moscow's recent drone attacks against Ukrainian civilian targets, however, labeling them "totally unjustifiable."