Australia, Japan Decline Trump’s Call For Naval Coalition In Strait Of Hormuz

Australia and Japan have indicated they are not planning to deploy naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz despite calls by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, for allied nations to help secure the vital shipping route.

Trump has in recent days urged the formation of a naval coalition to protect commercial vessels travelling through the waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Australia’s Transport Minister, Catherine King, said Canberra would not be sending a warship to the region.

“We won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is but that’s not something we’ve been asked or we’re contributing to,” she told national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

In Japan, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told parliament that Tokyo was not currently considering maritime security operations.

“In the current Iran situation, we are not at the moment considering issuing a maritime security operation,” Koizumi said.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi added that launching such an operation would be “extremely difficult legally”, reflecting restrictions placed on overseas military deployments under Japan’s post-war constitution.

Sending the Japan Self-Defense Forces abroad remains politically sensitive in the country, which adopted a pacifist constitution after the end of World War II.

Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have risen sharply since Israel and the United States carried out attacks on Iran on February 28, prompting fears of disruptions to global oil supplies.

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints linking Gulf oil producers to global markets.