Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged calm over the question of what the United States may do about what it sees as an increasingly rogue Iran.
And he has insisted that all Australia has agreed to do in the region at this stage is assist freedom of navigation exercises.
US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of military or even nuclear strikes on Iran at the start of his meeting with Mr Morrison in the White House on Friday.
But he walked it back later in the same remarks, saying: “I think the strong person’s approach and the thing that does show strength would be showing a little bit of restraint.”
Mr Morrison said no operations were discussed other than what Australia has already agreed to.
“There is an instinct towards restraint from the president and I commended him for that, and it was good to have the opportunity to confirm that again in the course of our discussions,” he told reporters in Washington on Saturday local time.
“I think that people need to be careful about getting ahead of themselves and running off on where these things might go.
“These matters are dealt with, I think, in a very iterative way and I think that’s what you’re seeing.”
Read the article by Katina Curtis and AFP in Perth Now.