Anthony Albanese has welcomed the announcement the critical Strait of Hormuz will be reopened, but has warned that it won’t mean an end to the fuel crisis.
Despite Iran’s announcement overnight, there is some confusion about the details, with US and Iran holding further peace talks over the weekend and Donald Trump saying the US blockade would continue until “the agreement was signed”.
Traffic through the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes, has been compromised since the US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28 began the war, and led to global fuel supply issues which has hit Australia hard.
The Prime Minister, who joined a virtual leaders’ summit to on the Strait of Hormuz overnight, said the news was welcomed but “fragile”.
“This was positive news that we received last night,” he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday morning.
“But we know that it’s very fragile and we don’t assume the best.
“What we do is prepare as best we can to for the uncertainty which is there.
“So we hope that it holds, but what we know is that the impact will be long lasting.
“You can’t open the Strait of Hormuz and have the ships arrive at port in Asia in the next day.” day.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said overnight commercial vessels would be free to pass through the Strait of Hormuz “for the remaining period of the ceasefire” between Lebanon and Israel.
Mr Trump said the deal was “in no way subject to Lebanon”.
“ … but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezboolah (sic) situation in an appropriate manner,” he said in a Truth Social post.
“Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!”
Mr Trump later told reporters in Phoenix, Arizona the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz would end when a deal was reached.
“When the agreement is signed, the blockade ends,” he said.
He said talks were continuing and “will go on over the weekend”.
“A lot of good things are happening that includes Lebanon too.”
Asked about an Iranian official’s comments earlier on Friday saying there were still significant differences between the two nations, Mr Trump said: “If there are, I’m going to straighten it out, but I don’t think there’s too many significant differences.”
Mr Albanese joined other world leaders for a summit co-hosted by France’s President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“The fact that the world came together yesterday – 49 countries as well as international organisations – says how important that is for the world,” Mr Albanese said on Saturday.
“We want the Strait of Hormuz to be fully reopened for all countries permanently and that will be important.”
He said there will be another meeting in London next week, which Australia would again be part of, about what assets might be required to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
“We spoke about the full range of support that could be required,” he said.
“Now that could be diplomatic measures – the call for de-escalation that we have put forward, the engagement with countries in that region, particularly Gulf countries as well.
“We will continue to be constructive contributor to that debate.
“But it certainly at this stage it wasn’t the forum where people were committing specifics.
“And Australia obviously is a long way away as well from the straight compared with European nations.”
Mr Albanese would not outline any commitments Australia could make to
“It’s fair to say that we’ll give consideration to requests which are made when we come together,” he said.
“This is was a very positive coming together of 49 nations as well as international organisations from around the with a common objective –
how do we secure de-escalation and peace in the region and how do we make sure as well that the economic impact is minimised on our respective populations.”
