Canberra backs US warning to Houthis of ‘consequences’

Australia has joined the US and 11 other countries to warn the Houthis of ‘consequences’ if they continued to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Iranians hold portraits of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani during the commemoration ceremony marking the anniversary of his killing in Tehran on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

Tensions in the Middle East have further escalated after Australia joined the US and 11 other countries to warn the Houthis of “consequences” if they continued to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea and Iran blamed the US and Israel for two bomb blasts in the country’s south that left at least 95 people dead.

The almost three month-long war between Israel and Hamas, until now fought in Gaza, looks to have led to a strike in Lebanon on Tuesday killing Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri.

Two explosions on Wednesday tore through a crowd in the Iranian city of Kerman commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani, killed four years ago in a US drone strike in Baghdad.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called the blasts “heinous”, and his political deputy, Mohammad Jamshidi, blamed the US and Israel.

“Make no mistake, the responsibility for this crime lies with the US and Zionist regimes, and terrorism is just a tool,” Mr Jamshidi posted on X, formerly Twitter.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US “was not involved in any way (and) we have no reason to believe that Israel was involved in this explosion”.

Israel declined to comment.

In the Red Sea the Houthis – from Yemen but backed by Iran – have stepped up their attacks on Israeli-bound ships, the most recent on Wednesday. Their aim, they say, is to support Palestinians in Gaza.

The joint statement issued by the US, Australia and allies, and also signed by the UK and New Zealand, noted the “significant escalation over the past week targeting commercial vessels, with missiles, small boats, and attempted hijackings”.

“We call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” the statement, released by the Prime Minister’s office on Thursday, read.

“The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”

The statement noted almost 15 per cent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including 8 per cent of global grain trade, 12 per cent of seaborne-traded oil and 8 per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade.

“These attacks threaten innocent lives from all over the world and constitute a significant international problem that demands collective action,” it said.

The increased regional instability has hit global markets, with oil prices spiking by more than 3 per cent.

NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma. Picture: Jonathan Ng

NSW senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, said the recent events had “increased the risk of this taking a regional dimension beyond Israel and Hamas in Gaza”.

“Israel hasn’t officially claimed responsibility, but the attack in Beirut is evidence of that,” Senator Sharma said.

“So too is Iran sending a warship to the Red Sea in recent days, along with the Houthis stepping up their attacks, including boarding container ships.

“But I think the bombing in Iran looks more like the signature of a homegrown terrorist operation. It’s easier for Iran to claim the bombing was the work of a foreign actor than admit domestic unrest.”

Senator Sharma said a factor mitigating the risk of a spreading conflict is that Israel has limited its attacks to Hamas targets, leaving Hezbollah alone.

“But even if this is the case, these things can sometimes take on a life of their own,” he said.

Strategic Analysis Australia director Peter Jennings said Australia’s involvement in the joint statement warning the Houthis of consequences arising from any further attacks in the Red Sea was “pathetic” given it was “barely involved” after deciding not to send a ship to the region despite a US request.

“We aren’t in the consequences business. We are in the noise making business,“ Mr Jennings said.

He said the recent events increased the risk of broader conflict beyond Gaza as that theatre winds down, “but not to the point we will see an all-out war”, and agreed the Kerman bombings were unlikely to have been the work of Israel.

“The two bombs were detonated in a sequence, the first one to push a large crowd to run toward the second. This is a classic terrorist ploy,” he said. “Without knowing precisely, it’s more likely to have been Islamic extremists operating within Iran.”

The UN and European Union, along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Iraq, denounced the bombings in Iran.