{"id":127876,"date":"2026-03-19T02:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T05:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/900367327"},"modified":"2026-03-19T02:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T05:58:12","slug":"australia-condemns-iran-as-key-shipping-closure-sends-fuel-prices-soaring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/19\/australia-condemns-iran-as-key-shipping-closure-sends-fuel-prices-soaring\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia condemns Iran as key shipping closure sends fuel prices soaring"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Australia<\/span><\/a> has joined with Gulf countries and several of its closest allies to condemn <\/span>Iran’s<\/span><\/a> attacks against its neighbours and lockdown of a critical shipping channel in the <\/span>Middle East<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dozens of countries came together on Wednesday (Wednesday and early Thursday AEDT) in a push for the International Maritime Organisation to address the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent oil prices soaring and pushed <\/span>petrol<\/span><\/a> well beyond the $2 mark in Australia.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Australia condemned Iran’s attacks on countries in the Middle East and merchant vessels in the Gulf, which have escalated continuously after Israel and the US attacked the country, killing its Supreme Leader.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Thai cargo vessel on fire in the Straits of Hormuz. (AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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“Iran has transformed one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes into a theatre of coercion and conflict,” Australia’s permanent representative to the IMO, Jay Weatherill, told an extraordinary meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“Any interference with vessels or vessel movements places innocent seafarers at significant risk and threatens maritime safety and security.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The former South Australian premier said the consequences were being felt far beyond the Gulf. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“This disruption has triggered severe global energy shocks, causing oil and fuel prices to surge in Australia,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“This is placing immense pressure on households, industries and supply chains.”\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The former South Australian premier said the consequences were being felt far beyond the Gulf.  (Ben Searcy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Inflation \ufefffears as fuel prices soar<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Australian petrol and diesel prices<\/span><\/a> already averaged 219.5 and 245.6 cents a litre last week and Brent crude was sitting at $US108 ($142) a barrel on Wednesday, in what the International Energy Agency has labelled the worst oil supply shock in global history.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Westpac yesterday updated its modelling on the economic impacts brought about by the conflict, on Wednesday, predicting petrol and diesel costs would increase by more than just the “direct pass-through” from higher crude oil prices, and fertiliser and jet fuel would also be affected. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week warned the crisis in the Middle East could push inflation in Australia towards 5 per cent.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On Thursday, he will reportedly warn the figure could go even higher, wiping billions from the economy and impacting living standards for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He will tell the Australian Business Economists that “the prospect of inflation peaking in the high 4s or even higher this year is very real if oil remains above $US100 a barrel, according to <\/span>The Sydney Morning Herald<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called an emergency national cabinet meeting with the premiers on Thursday to thrash out the nation’s fuel supply woes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Treasurer
Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week warned the crisis in the Middle East could push inflation in Australia towards 5 per cent. (Alex Ellinghausen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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More than 100 condemn Iran\ufeff<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The UAE motion, backed by more than 100 nations and several member organisations, called on the council to condemn Iran’s attacks, reaffirm freedom of navigation, urge all states to comply with international law and call for the protection of seafarers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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An extraordinary meeting was called for Wednesday and Thursday this week to debate it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Russia, Iran and China all spoke out against the push to condemn Iran, citing mostly procedural reasons for not suspending IMO rules to hold the meeting earlier than would normally be allowed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A spokesperson for Transport Minister Catherine King said the government was working with partners to “reinforce the importance of the safety and security of seafarers crossing the Strait of Hormuz”.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Trump wants ships, not just condemnation\ufeff<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The push to condemn Iran came as US President Donald Trump continued his campaign to coerce allies, including Australia, to go even further.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He’s spent days alternately demanding, begging and vaguely threatening countries such as the UK, France and the NATO defensive alliance as a whole to send warships to help secure the strait, which is critical to oil shipments from the Gulf.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called “Strait?'” he posted on Truth Social on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

US President Donald Trump continued his campaign to coerce allies, including Australia, to go even further. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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“That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A string of refusals indicates his stock of European goodwill is low. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He has put allies through the wringer since returning to the White House, bullying them over <\/span>tariffs<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Greenland<\/span><\/a> and other issues, and <\/span>disparaging the sacrifices<\/span><\/a> their soldiers made alongside US troops in Afghanistan.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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French defence analyst Fran\u00e7ois Heisbourg described the response to Trump’s cajoling as a “global raspberry”.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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No close ally has come forward with immediate help. Australia won’t send one of its few warships to the region. Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war. France says the fighting would have to die down first. Others are non-committal. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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China, which is not an ally but was also asked to help, is ignoring Trump’s call.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“This is not Europe’s war. We didn’t start the war. We were not consulted,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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– Reported with Associated Press<\/span><\/em>\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NEVER MISS A STORY:<\/span><\/strong><\/em> <\/span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… neighbours and lockdown of a critical shipping<\/span> channel in the Middle East. Dozens … , killing its Supreme Leader. A Thai cargo<\/span> vessel on fire in the Straits … 's most critical shipping<\/span> lanes into a theatre of coercion …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}