US asks Australia to adopt a tougher stance on Iran, as Donald Trump visit looks more likely

Donald Trump could be visiting Melbourne in December - for a golf event - while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has asked Australia for help in US efforts to bring Iran into line.

Golf-loving US President Donald Trump is considering an invitation Down Under to coincide with the world’s best players battling it out at Royal Melbourne.

Mr Trump says he’d like to visit later this year for the President’s Cup Golf, which is held every two years between the United States and an international team.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison extended a formal invitation to Mr Trump to make his first trip to Australia since he moved into the White House as the pair dined ahead of the G20 summit in Osaka last night.

Asked whether he’d come to Melbourne to watch the Tiger Woods-captained team, Mr Trump said: “I’ll tell you what: I’d like to”.

“It might not be easy, but I’d like to. That’s a big deal. That’s going to be great. That’s going to be great.”

Mr Morrison said “there’s a warm invitation” for Mt Trump to visit Australia that is “standing”.

White House sources say there “a hole in his diary” around the same time.

Mr Morrison said Mr Trump had an “encyclopaedic” knowledge of the game and was capable of joining the commentary team.

“We’ll see. He seemed pretty interested last night!” he told Sky News Australia.

Two thumbs up: Donald Trump and Scott Morrison meeting ahead of the G20 in Japan.

The US President awarded Woods a Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this year after winning the US Masters, his 15th major.

Mr Trump is a golf fanatic and if he attends the Presidents Cup in Australia, he will be the first sitting president to do so.

It is understood Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, Joe Hockey, has been involved in preliminary discussions to woo Mr Trump to the tournament.

The pair have formed a strong relationship since Mr Hockey took up his job in Washington in early 2016.

Royal Melbourne, which will host the event between December 12-15, previously hosted the tournament in 1998 and 2011, the only other times it has been held in Australia.

In 1998, former president George H W Bush attended the event but not the then-president Bill Clinton.

The 2011 tournament coincided with a visit to Australia by then-president Barack Obama who is also a keen golfer.

Mr Morrison said last night’s dinner at the Imperial Hotel was a “very congenial discussion” and it reflected “a great relationship” which is “really forming” between himself and Mr Trump.

He said he raised the US-China trade relations at dinner and was confident Mr Trump was committed to resolve the issues.

“One in five jobs are dependent on trade. That is why events like this are important. Not just dealing obviously with the United States, but also the many other participants,” he told the ABC.

AMERICA’S IRAN REQUEST WILL BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY: MORRISON

Mr Morrison also said today Australia would deal with any request from the US for military support in a potential conflict with Iran “seriously” and “on its merits”.

It comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Australia to adopt a tougher stance on Iran, including new sanctions against the regime.

Mr Morrison said speculation about a potential military conflict between the US and Iran was “premature” when asked about it this morning but confirmed the president did not seek Australia’s military support.

“It certainly wasn’t sought,” he told the ABC.

“We talked about these issues and we have been watching them very closely as well but there are no requests and at this stage I think those issues are a bit premature,” Mr Morrison said.

“But we are obviously concerned. We will obviously work closely but any request like that will be dealt with in the normal way.”

He added: “We would deal with any request from an ally such as the United States seriously and on its merits.”

Secretary Pompeo told The Australian that the Morrison Government needs to “speak out clearly” on Iran and “acknowledge it is Iran that is now attacking commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz”.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the 2018 G20 Summit. Picture: AAP

“I think Australia is an important player here, I think they carry a lot of weight in the sense that they, like many nations, suffer from the fact the world’s largest state sponsor of terror continues down the path of building its missile program in a way that threatens not only the Middle East but the entire world,” Sec. Pompeo said.

He said Australia would be a key player in a global coalition to help the US ensure the Strait of Hormuz is kept open.

US President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. Picture: AP

“Australia is an ­important economic player so the imposition of more autonomous sanctions would be welcomed as well,” Sec. Pompeo said. “(We would welcome) Australia’s voice in calling out the Iranians for precisely what they are — a regime that behaves in rogue ways inconsistent with fundamental democratic values and one that continues to do that not only in their own country but around the world”.

“We think the Iranian people don’t support what their leadership is doing and if Australia lent its voice to that cause it would increase the likelihood that we’d be successful,” he said.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Picture: AFP

Australia already has placed sanctions on Iran, including limits on exports of goods and services.

This week the US ordered new sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Iran shot down an US surveillance drone.

US President Donald Trump has also blamed Iran for attacking two tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this month.

To read more, visit The Australian.