Scott Morrison has opened the door to joining a United States convoy to protect oil tankers from Iran, as former foreign minister Bob Carr warns against supporting any US-led mission.
Visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed hard yesterday at the AUSMIN talks in Sydney for Australia to join an international coalition against Iranian actions against ships, but there are fears such a venture would escalate into direct military conflict between the US and Iran.
The Prime Minister today said any Australian co-operation in an US-led mission in the Strait of Hormuz would depend on the details of the mission and the size of the international coalition.
He also refuted arguments made by Mr Carr and others that any international coalition to protect would ensure a direct, large-scale military conflict between the US and Iran.
“I think the exact opposite,” he said in Wacol, Queensland today.
“It’s very important to separate this particular initiative from the broader issues of many tensions that relate to Iran on other matters, particularly on nuclear proliferation. That is one set of issues.
“The international effort that’s been discussed here is designed to do one thing and that is to de-escalate and to ensure there’s a freedom of navigation and there’s the safe shipping lanes through this very sensitive part of the world.
Read the article by Richard Ferguson in The Australian.