Iran slams Australia for its involvement in conflict over Straight of Hormuz

Iran has slammed Australia for blindly following the US, warning its involvement in an ongoing dispute will have consequences.

Iran has warned Australia that its decision to send military forces to the Strait of Hormuz will have consequences.

As reported earlier this week, Australia is sending a frigate, surveillance aircraft and troops into one of the world’s most volatile hot spots.

It’s a move Scott Morrison hopes will protect the narrow strip of sea divided between Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes.

The area is at the centre of an ongoing dispute amid unverified claims that Iran attacked six oil tankers in the Strait as retaliation for sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump.

A fire broke out on a Norwegian-owned tanker said to have been attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Oman. Picture: ISNA/AFP

But the deputy chair of Iran’s Foreign Relations Committee, Kamal Dehghani Firouzabadi, told the ABC Australia’s involvement was a bad decision.

“I don’t think there’ll be material damage to Australia,” he said. “The damage will be to the reputation and prestige of Australia.

“It was very surprising for me to hear that Australia joined the coalition because the United States is making repeated mistakes, including pulling out of the nuclear agreement.”

The US pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May last year — an agreement that had been reached in 2015 by China, the UK, Russia, France, the US and the United Nations Security Council.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani (centre) attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran. Picture: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP

Mr Dehghani told the ABC Iran was still trying to figure out who targeted the tankers.

“Whoever was behind this tension is benefiting from all this,” he said.

“It might be the United States, it might be Israel, or it might be the backward nations like Saudi Arabia, UAE or the terrorist organisations that get their money from them.”

He cautioned that Mr Trump was showcasing “Islamophobia” and Australia was getting caught up in it.

Experts have warned Australia is walking a fine line between supporting the US and becoming involved in a military confrontation.

“The year 2019 has witnessed increasingly worrying omens of war between the US and Iran,” a new report by the International Crisis Group reads.

Scott Morrison has announced Australia will send troops, planes and warships to help guard the Strait of Hormuz. Picture: Marc Tewksbury/AAP

“As in Europe in 1914, a minor incident could spark a military confrontation that could in turn rapidly engulf the entire region.

“A single attack by rocket, drone or limpet mine could set off a military escalation between the US and Iran and their respective regional allies and proxies that could prove impossible to contain.”

G7 nations tried their best to intervene in the conflict between Iran and US earlier this week at the summit in France.

As Mr Trump and Mr Morrison met with leaders from the world’s most powerful nations, an unexpected guest stole the spotlight during talks on the sidelines with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif did not meet with Mr Trump but tweeted on his way back to the Middle East that talks had been positive.

“Road ahead is difficult. But worth trying,” he wrote.

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