FILE PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends the 8th trilateral leaders' meeting between China, South Korea and Japan in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan province December 24, 2019. Wang Zhao/Pool via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is proceeding as planned with a trip to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman from the weekend, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.

This week, Japan said it would stick to plans to deploy its Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East to ensure the safety of its ships, despite heightened tension after the United States’s killing of an Iranian military commander, although media reported that Abe’s trip had been called off.