Neither Australia nor Japan intends to send naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz to help the US secure oil traffic through the vital strait.
This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
Catherine King, a minister in the Australian government, refuses to send ships to the region.
- We will not send a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important it is, but it is not something we have been asked to do or that we are contributing to, she says in an interview with the ABC television station.
Japan is investigating
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also does not plan to send naval vessels to escort ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
- We have not made any decisions at all about sending escort ships, Takaichi said, according to Reuters.
- We are continuing to examine what Japan can do itself and what can be done within the legal framework, she added.
The prime minister called it "extremely difficult legally" to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz, the AFP news agency reported.
Trump wants help
US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged countries including Japan to send reinforcements to the Middle East, after he had earlier promised to start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict in the region has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz. It is a strategic bottleneck for about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. Oil prices around the world have since exploded.
Japan is the world's fifth-largest oil importer. 95 percent of its oil comes from the Middle East, and 70 percent passes through the Strait of Hormuz, writes AFP.
Britain hesitates - may send drones
Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend that he hoped that China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would send ships to the area.
South Korea has not yet made a decision, writes Reuters.
According to The Guardian, the British government is hesitant to send naval vessels.
The government is instead considering sending drones specifically designed to locate and destroy mines to the Strait of Hormuz, writes The Guardian.
Several US media outlets have reported that mines may either be laid in the Strait of Hormuz - or are already being placed there.
/ritzau/
