{"id":50149,"date":"2019-08-27T15:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=50149"},"modified":"2019-09-11T09:37:14","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T23:37:14","slug":"why-australia-joined-the-us-led-coalition-in-the-strait-of-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-australia-joined-the-us-led-coalition-in-the-strait-of-hormuz\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Australia joined the US-led coalition in the Strait of Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

There are two strong reasons behind the Morrison government\u2019s decision<\/a> on 21 August to join the US-led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) in support of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The first is our near-total dependence, as an island nation, on guaranteed freedom of navigation for international shipping for fundamental trade and economic reasons. That guarantee, both in principle and in practice, applies as much to the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent Gulf waters as to other maritime areas of importance to Australia, including the South China Sea and critical passages to our north.<\/p>\n

The second is the depth of our alliance relationship with the US. The US pressed Australia hard for an early commitment. With only two other nations\u2014the UK and Bahrain\u2014reluctantly on board, Australia\u2019s participation was important to boost both the international viability and visibility of the IMSC.<\/p>\n

It was a request we couldn\u2019t refuse, notwithstanding the lack of clarity about the IMSC\u2019s structure and rules of engagement.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s reluctance to join the IMSC mostly hinges on concerns that President Donald Trump will exploit it to interdict legitimate Iranian commercial shipping vessels as part of his sanctions campaign against Iran. To distance itself from that possibility, the EU is considering options such as joining the IMSC on the condition that it transition to European leadership or establishing a separate taskforce.<\/p>\n

Aware of European concerns and pending finalisation of the IMSC\u2019s structure, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has largely modelled Australia\u2019s rules of engagement in the operation on those of the UK. The prime minister emphasised<\/a> that our national interests will dictate all decisions and reaffirmed our commitment to international maritime law. He also explained that Australia\u2019s commitment to the IMSC and Trump\u2019s campaign of putting \u2018maximum pressure\u2019 on Iran are \u2018completely separate issues\u2019.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been no rush, however, to send Australian assets to the region. Morrison announced that a RAAF P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft would be deployed to the Middle East late this year and a RAN frigate early next year, both under Operation Manitou, our longstanding program for supporting counterpiracy and counterterrorism efforts in the Gulf region. Operations in support of the IMSC would be additional tasking. This hurry-up-and-wait approach suggests that Australia\u2019s commitment is at least as much symbolic as operational.<\/p>\n

In signing up to the IMSC, the Australian government is well aware that it is entering an international political minefield. The Persian Gulf is a major international arena where any interdiction of shipping, or maritime or other provocations, by any party could trigger an escalation of tensions that tests the boundaries of Australia\u2019s planned involvement.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s oil exports are a prime US sanctions target that Trump wants to reduce to zero as part of his maximum pressure campaign. They are also Iran\u2019s major source of foreign currency. US sanctions have hit Iran\u2019s exports and foreign earnings hard. While the Europeans established INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) to technically facilitate Iran\u2019s oil sales and bypass US sanctions, it has been largely ineffective so far.<\/p>\n

Tougher US sanctions triggered the commencement in June of Iran\u2019s harassment of selected foreign shipping in the Gulf. Tehran\u2019s aim is twofold: to signal the potential vulnerability of foreign oil shipments through the Gulf if Iran is denied its right to ship its oil, and to pressure the Europeans and other parties to implement an effective INSTEX. The situation escalated in July with the UK\u2019s seizure of the Iranian super tanker Adrian Darya 1<\/em> off Gibraltar and Iran\u2019s tit-for-tat seizure of the UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero<\/em> in the Gulf.<\/p>\n

The Adrian Darya 1<\/em> has been released but the Stena Impero<\/em> is set to remain in Iranian custody until the Adrian Darya 1<\/em> reaches its as yet unknown destination. Adding to this saga is the explicit US threat <\/a>of punitive measures against any countries that buy that ship\u2019s oil.<\/p>\n

The seizure of the Stena Impero<\/em> was a significant factor in the UK\u2019s decision to join the IMSC<\/a>. As an island nation that is dependent on shipping through the Gulf area, it was compelled to act. However, being aware of the potential for conflict of interest, it will operate under its own rules of engagement, quite separately to Trump\u2019s sanctions campaign.<\/p>\n

With its recent harassment of foreign oil shipping in the Gulf, Tehran has made its point. As the Europeans expected, Iran held off on any further interdiction of commercial shipping in the lead-up to the G7 summit in France, which concluded yesterday.<\/p>\n

The functionality of INSTEX and Europe\u2019s commitment to the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) were major discussion items on the summit\u2019s sidelines. The surprise visit of Iran\u2019s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, at French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s invitation, for separate meetings with France and other JCPOA signatories, added significant gravitas to those discussions. Zarif did not attend the summit itself or seek to meet Trump, but Macron offered<\/a> to broker a future meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to work towards settlement of the US\u2013Iran crisis.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s next moves will depend on what comes from the discussions on INSTEX and the JCPOA\u2014and from the proposal for a Trump\u2013Rouhani meeting.<\/p>\n

Correction:\u00a0<\/em>An earlier version of this piece named Iran\u2019s supreme leader Ali Khamenei as the country\u2019s president instead of Hassan Rouhani.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are two strong reasons behind the Morrison government\u2019s decision on 21 August to join the US-led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) in support of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. 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