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Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia is “engaging very closely” with the US after President Donald Trump announced American warships would escort merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Trump on Sunday (Monday AEST) said governments “from all over the world … have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz”.
“They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders!” he posted on social media.
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) later confirmed the mission, dubbed Project Freedom, saying it “will support merchant vessels seeking to freely transit through the essential international trade corridor”.
“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper said.
Asked about what Australia was doing to reopen the strait, Senator Wong said Canberra had been “engaging diplomatically with the United Kingdom, France and also the United States”.
“I saw the President’s message this morning,” she told reporters.
“Obviously, more details will emerge over the coming days.
“As a matter of principle, we all want the Strait open, Australian consumers want the Strait open, and the global economy needs the Strait open.”
She added that the government was “engaging very closely with our partners in relation to the strait”.
The maritime chokepoint has been effectively shut since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, cutting up to a quarter of the world’s usual oil supply.
The oil shocks have driven fuel prices to historic highs across the globe.
The strait’s closure has also cut a third of the world’s fertiliser supply, spurring warnings of a looming food crisis.
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