Tensions increase between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. claims that Iran was behind the attacks on two Japanese tankers near the Strait of Hormuz during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to Iran, and the Trump administration has decided to send troops to the Middle East.

Japan’s Mistake: Blind Diplomatic Obedience to the U.S.

The attacks were orchestrated to happen during Abe’s talks with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in which the Japanese Prime Minister hoped to play a mediating role between Iran and the U.S. But there was more to this ‘welcome message’ than one might think.

On the day of the attacks, Master Ryuho Okawa – founder and CEO of the Happy Science Group – summoned the guardian spirit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for a spiritual interview. “I’m grateful that Abe came, but he’s pretty much just Trump’s errand boy,” said the guardian spirit. He hinted that some groups in Iran did not find Abe’s visit pleasing.

The circumstances seem to indicate that the attacks were a political message.

It was revealed that the attackers used limpet mines on the Japanese tankers.
Seiji Kawata, associate professor at Happy Science University, and an expert in national security, told the Liberty Magazine

We don’t know the culprit behind the tanker attacks yet, but there is a high likelihood that it was by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, just like the U.S. alleges. This is because the underwater mines they used are a kind that can only be obtained by a state-level organization.

Anyway, if they had wanted to sink those ships, they would have used torpedoes, not mines. In fact, they went to the trouble of placing the mines above sea level so when they blow a hole in the ship, the water won’t get in. All of this tells us that the purpose of those attacks wasn’t to sink the ships: it’s meant to be some sort of political message.

 
If so, what were those opposition groups unhappy about?

Last year the Trump administration withdrew from Obama’s Nuclear Deal with Iran because it was flawed. And he is now imposing sanctions on Iran to make them come to the negotiation table for a new Nuclear Deal.

Japan has joined this sanction and has cut imports on Iranian crude oil. But Iranian crude oil only makes 3.8% of Japan’s total oil use. Japan’s agreement to join the sanction was more a political message saying, “Japan sides with the U.S.”

Japan is blindly following the American sense of justice. With this in mind, we can see that the attacks on those tankers was Iran’s expression of distrust at Japan as the U.S.-Iran mediator, because Japan doesn’t seem to have a will of her own: she just blindly follows the U.S.

Around 30% of the world’s crude oil transportation by sea happens through the Strait of Hormuz. If Iran can foment the possibility of a crisis in the Strait, they can use that to keep the U.S. military at arm’s length.

Siding With Israel Is Unfair

Last year the U.S. withdrew from the Nuclear Deal in preparation for a major nuclear clampdown. But we must question how justified is the American sense of justice.

Israel is the only Middle Eastern country to which the U.S. is permitting the possession of nuclear weapons. The Trump administration is especially supportive of Israel. For example, the Trump administration recognized the Golan Heights, captured from Syria during the Six-Day War, as part of Israel through a presidential proclamation.

International law declares that the territorial annexation by military means is unjust. If Israel is given sovereignty in Golan Heights, it would encourage this practice on the global stage.

To the Arab nations, the founding of Israel itself was an unfair business. Israel was founded in 1948 and was brought about through the help of Christians who believed that returning the Jews to their Promised Land was a condition for the Second Coming of Christ.

But founding Israel meant forcing out the Palestinians who lived there. Since then there have been 4 wars in the Middle East across the last 25 years.

In other words, the founding of Israel was the root cause of the Muslim hatred towards Israel and the U.S.

Political scientist Hannah Arendt was Jewish, but she was critical of the Zionist movement, which hoped to revive the nation of Israel. Arendt thought that the Zionist doctrine of separating the Jewish from people of other religions is the same as the theory of a superior ruling race. Ironically, it is the same as the Nazi Aryan doctrine, under which the Jewish people suffered so much.

Israel is situated on the western bank of the River Jordan which is enclosed by an electric wire fence to keep the Palestinians out. Inside they have built ghetto-like facilities. It reminds one of the totalitarianism which gave Nazi Germany the power to prosecute the Jewish people.

The Jewish settlement on the western bank of the Jordan is a scheme to gradually turn the area into Israeli territory. In other words, it has become a major obstacle for those wanting to officially found the State of Palestine. It denies the global effort of creating Arab-Israeli co-existence and obstructs the hopes of properly founding the State of Palestine to peacefully coexist with Israel.

Considering these circumstances, is Prime Minister Abe really okay with the Arab nations thinking that Japan is going to side with Israel? If Japan is going to join the effort to denuclearize Iran, they would need to keep things fair, and approach the U.S. about the unfairness of only allowing Israel to hold nuclear weapons. A mediator needs to be sensitive about balance and fairness.

Japan As Religious Arbitrator

The Middle East conflict is not just a conflict over territory. It is essentially a conflict between monotheistic religions: Judaism and Christianity versus Islam.

True, Islam tends to oppress human rights and inhibit modernization. They place more importance on equality over freedom and have many old precepts that don’t fit in with our current society.

Judaism and Christianity, on the other hand, tend to be prejudiced. After the September 11 attacks, they have tended to associate Islam with terrorism and consider Muslims with mistrust. But there is a problem in just associating Islam with violence.

Karen Armstrong, an author on comparative religion, told The Liberty Magazine that we are made to think that Muslims resort to violence, but if we study the history of Christendom, it becomes clear that Islam is a far more peaceful and tolerant religion than Christianity.

Monotheistic religions will not stop fighting until the other falls. But now, what we most need is the spirit of tolerance and the power to accept each other. Once we understand the Middle East problem at this level of depth, it becomes clear what sort of work Japan must do as arbitrator.

Japan has never been involved in a conflict between monotheistic religions and has left no subsequent breeding ground for future conflict. In fact, Japan has a history of religious harmony and tolerance, most notably the melding together of Shinto and Buddhism.

On top of this, a century and a half ago Japan underwent a modernization process based on the importance of tradition and religion, known as the Meiji Restoration. Japan knows how to help the Muslim world achieve modernization without having to Westernize.

But what Japan needs most is a transcendental religious view.

Karen Armstrong’s book, “A History of God”, points out that aside from Yahweh (the xenophobic god who only cares for his Chosen People) the Old Testament introduces another God: Elohim, the god of mercy.
Yahweh’s influence is at the bottom of the world’s current conflicts between monotheistic religions. To bring the three religions to reconciliation, we must encourage them to look at Elohim’s teachings of love. Because Elohim’s teachings of love were, after all, the guiding hand behind all three brother religions.

Spiritual research at Happy Science has revealed that the Christian “God the Father” and the Muslims “Allah” both refer to Elohim. This religious truth is a vital key to bringing an end to the conflict.

Why America’s Middle East Policy Keeps Failing

Anyhow, Japan must work towards easing the conflict in the Middle East. If left alone, it will endanger Japan’s national security.

Economic sanctions have reduced Iran to take provocative actions. Iran is threatening that if they take control over the Strait of Hormuz it will destabilize the oil supply, and they hope that this anxiety will spark demands in the U.S. to suspend the sanctions.

But if the U.S. misreads this message, reinforces their hard-line stance, and prepares to take military action to denuclearize Iran, it could mean the end for Iran.

Back in January 2008, Master Okawa gave a lecture entitled “Dawn Always Follows Night” in which he made a prediction.

The Jewish people own a central part of America’s capital. And for the Jewish people it would be a big deal if their country of Israel, which they finally founded after WWII, is taken away, even if it only has a population of 7 million. That’s why I think the U.S. will move to protect Israel. And if we consider which is more important to the U.S. – protecting Israel or protecting Japan – I think the U.S. would choose Israel.

 
If the U.S. military starts a war in the Middle East, the ones who gain the most out of it would be China and North Korea.

This is because Trump will no longer be able to keep an eye on Asia, and it may give China and North Korea an opportunity to deepen ties with Iran. Add Syria and Russia to the mix, and we get a similar power structure to the Cold War. Japan must work to bridge the gap between the U.S. and Iran at all costs. (Hanako Cho)