Touring PM urges ‘restraint’ on Iran
AUSTRALIA will not be dragged into any war with Iran, the Prime Minister suggested yesterday as he again urged “restraint” with the increasingly rogue nation.
Scott Morrison urged calm amid mounting tensions in the Middle East and just hours after US President Donald Trump boasted about his nuclear arsenal during their oval office meeting.
Speaking in Washington yesterday on the second day of his landmark US state visit, Mr Morrison said commended the President’s “natural instinct” of restraint being a sign of strength.
“It was good to have the opportunity to confirm that again in the course of our discussions,” he said after attending a garden party in the capital.
“So I think that should provide some assurance. I mean Australia will make its decisions in our national interest.
“Where we’ve worked together it’s because we have shared objectives. It’s not because they ask us to do this, or we ask them to do that. It’s because we share objectives.”
Australia has so far agreed to a limited contribution to the US-led freedom of navigation operation in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the start of their oval office meeting, Mr Trump announced even stronger sanctions on Tehran and the country’s national bank.
Despite the pair downplaying any military conflict with Iran — which has been accused of blowing up Saudi Arabian oilfields and detaining three Australians — Mr Trump described his nuclear arsenal as in “tippy top shape” and “tippy top”.
Mr Morrison added: “There are no other areas where we have any discussions of other operations.
“I think people need to be careful about getting ahead of themselves ... in running off on where these things might go. We appreciate the opportunity to be very heavily engaged.”
A senior White House official said yesterday that President Trump would raise concerns about Iran’s “escalatory violence” during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week and would explore a coalition.
“We welcome this opportunity to consult with a broad range of partners and allies on our collective response,” they said.
Also speaking yesterday after the garden party at the residence of Australia’s ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, Mr Morrison said he was confident the trade war with China would be resolved despite President Trump revealing it would not be completed before next year’s elections.
He said the government would address any budget issues.
Also yesterday Mr Morrison spoke at NASA’s headquarters as a special deal was inked with the Adelaidebased Australian Space Agency before visits to Arlington National Cemetery and a military entrepreneurship facility.
At the US space agency he was shown a Logie award won by the first men on the moon — Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins — for entertaining Australians 50 years ago, which he later posed with alongside former NASA astronaut, Adelaide’s Andy Thomas.
Mr Morrison also revealed yesterday how he was moved close to tears by the state diner entertainment and a military encore of a Waltzing Matilda.