Japan will determine case by case whether to exercise its right to collective self-defense in the event of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with missiles from Iran or elsewhere, the top government spokesman has said.

¡°The government will make a decision based on individual circumstances and all available information,¡± Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a news conference Tuesday.

He thus declined to clarify whether such a blockade of the key oil transport route would constitute what is known as a survival-threatening situation that could allow Japan to exercise its collective self-defense right.