Australia will join the United States in a security mission to protect merchant vessels traveling through key Middle East waterways after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday. Foremost among the areas to be patrolled is the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne crude flows out of the Gulf. Global commodity trading has been rocked in recent months by the seizure of the British tanker and a series of attacks on international merchant vessels that the US and Britain have blamed on Iran, though it denies involvement. Britain this month became the first US ally to announce its participation. "This destabilizing behavior is a threat to Australia's interests in the region," Morrison told a news conference in Canberra. "Our contribution will be limited in scope and it will be time-bound." Morrison said Australia would send a P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane to the Middle East for one month before the end of 2019, while an Australian frigate would be deployed for six months from January. Australia is a staunch ally of the United States, which in recent months has urged partners to do more for global security. Iran has denounced US efforts to set up the coalition and insisted countries in the region can protect waterways and work toward signing a non-aggression pact. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday told the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI): "No amount of foreign military presence can prevent insecurity in this region. You cannot have an island of security ... while the US is waging an economic war against Iran." The Gulf state of Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, this week became the first Arab country to announce it would join the new mission, through a tweet from its ambassador to the United States. The Bahraini government was unable to provide further details when asked by Reuters. Sources briefed on the US plan had told Reuters that foreign participation could include anything from sending vessels and personnel to offering bases, logistical support, liaison officers or financing. Bahrain already serves as headquarters to the US-led Combined Maritime Forces, a 33-nation alliance that carries out security and anti-piracy operations in the region. Most European countries, which disagree with a US decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran, have been reluctant to sign up to the US-led mission for fear of adding to tension in the region. US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington in 2018 from a big-power deal that had scrapped international sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. — Reuters
