Japan's incoming prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, will likely name former Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya as foreign minister when he forms his government this week, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Sunday.

Japan's former defence minister, political veteran Shigeru Ishiba, has succeeded Fumio Kishida as the country's prime minister. As expected, the 67-year-old Ishiba was elected by a majority of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior coalition partner Komeito in both houses of parliament on Tuesday.

Iwaya, defence chief from 2018 to 2019, helped Ishiba on strategy in his winning run to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party