Australia will not send a ship to the Strait of Hormuz, following calls from President Donald Trump for United States allies to help ensure the safety of the waterway, the country’s Transport Minister said on Monday (15), local time.
Catherine King told public broadcaster ABC that the country had not been asked to , which has been effectively closed by Iran since the war began more than two weeks ago.
“Well, we’ve been very clear about what our contribution is in terms of the orders, and so far, that contribution is to the UAE – obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, especially considering the number of Australians who are in that region – but we will not be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz,” King told ABC.
“We know how incredibly important this is, but it’s not something we’ve been asked to do or are contributing to,” he added.
Trump has stepped up pressure on US allies to , although he has not explicitly asked Australia for help.
“It is more than appropriate that the people who benefit from the strait,” Trump told the Financial Times in a phone interview on Sunday, adding that “if there is no response or if the response is negative, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”
On Saturday (14), Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he hopes “China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others” affected by the virus will send ships to the area.
Context: Australia and the US are formal defense allies and have strengthened their ties in recent years with the Aukus pact, which aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the next decade to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.
Strait of Hormuz was the subject of connection between Starmer and Trump
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke over the phone with United States President Donald Trump this Sunday (15), according to a Downing Street spokeswoman.
The two spoke about the need for , which has been closed since the start of the war with Iran on February 28th. As a result, an important part of global maritime transport is interrupted, generating chaos in the economic market, especially in .
Starmer also spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The two leaders discussed the impact of the continued closure of the strait, the spokeswoman added.
