Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles insists there has been “no specific request” from US President Donald Trump as he confirms that Australia will later today take part in 40-nation discussions about policing the Strait of Hormuz.
Marles told ABC’s Radio National that Australia “speaks with the Trump administration at different levels every day” but also made clear that “this is not a conflict which Australia has been directly a part of”.
“That said, we very much support the strategic objective of denying Iran a deployable nuclear weapon and that capability. We’ve assessed requests that have come in our direction in accordance with Australia’s national interest, as we should, that has meant that we’ve sent a very significant contingent through to the Wedge tails [surveillance aircraft] to help in the defence of the Gulf countries, specifically the UAE.”
The Coalition’s defence spokesman James Paterson earlier called on Labor to make clear what was being done to communicate with the Trump administration following the president’s repeated criticisms.
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