ALBAWABA – The United States has formally called on Australia to send a warship to the US-led maritime task force in the Red Sea to repel the Houthi group’s targeting of Israeli vessels, local media said on Thursday.
ABC News reported that Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said Canberra is considering the request by Washington but that the focus is on naval efforts closer to home.
“I want to emphasize the focus of our efforts is on our immediate region and the regional presence deployments that we have been engaged in over the last few months,” ABC quoted Marles.
Last week, the Pentagon stated that it is prepared to assist in the formation of a maritime task force to protect merchant shipping in the Red Sea, following a series of Houthi attacks on ships believed to be Israeli-owned, attacks that came amid Israel’s ongoing aggression on Gaza.
At the same time, Iran strictly warned the U.S. against any additional activities in the Red Sea.
Iran’s Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani warned that a proposed U.S.-backed multinational task force to protect shipping in the Red Sea would face “extraordinary problems”, official Iranian media reported on Thursday, Reuters reported.
“If they make such an irrational move, they will be faced with extraordinary problems. Nobody can make a move in a region where we have predominance,” Ashtiani told the official Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) in comments it published on Thursday.
Last week, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that the US was in talks with “other countries” about forming a “maritime task force… to ensure safe passage of ships in the Red Sea,” but provided no further details.
