Two Japanese nationals are being detained in Iran, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday.

The government has been able to contact the two nationals since the U.S.-Israeli attack on the Middle Eastern country began on Saturday and has confirmed their safety, Motegi told a parliamentary committee meeting.

¡°The government will strongly demand their early release and provide as much support as possible,¡± he said.

One of the two Japanese nationals was detained on Jan. 20, Motegi said.

News of the additional detention comes after the U.S. and Israel began a sweeping military campaign against Iran that has resulted in Tehran firing retaliatory strikes around the region.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty¡¯s Radio Farda and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), one of those arrested is the Tehran bureau chief of public broadcaster NHK, Shinnosuke Kawashima.

Kawashima was arrested on Jan. 20 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and held at a detention facility in northern Tehran, the CPJ said on Feb. 26, citing a source who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

The CPJ and Radio Free Europe both reported that Kawashima was transferred to Evin Prison on Feb. 23, where political prisoners are usually incarcerated.

The CPJ¡¯s source also said that the passport of longtime NHK videographer Mehdi Mohammedi was confiscated along with his personal devices, including his phone, laptop and camera.

Another NHK staff member ¡ª whose identity CPJ said it was withholding for safety reasons ¡ª fled Iran in early February after being summoned several times, CPJ said in a statement.

¡°The arrest of Shinnosuke Kawashima and the intimidation of his colleagues reflects a deliberate effort by Iranian authorities to silence independent reporting,¡± said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah.

The reported arrest followed a wave of major protests in Iran in December and January met by a violent government crackdown that rights groups said left thousands of people dead.

This was before the U.S. and Israeli militaries began Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28 and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.