AUSTRALIA PERSPECTIVE

Canberra, May 24, 2026. Before the ink can even dry on a potential memorandum of understanding, Australia has already calculated what this conflict has cost the nation. Deputy Minister for Technology Andrew Charlton, interviewed Sunday morning on Sky News, distilled Canberra's mood into a blunt statement: "Australia is not immune" — capturing the reality that millions of Australian motorists have felt at every petrol pump since Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, squeezing global oil supplies and driving prices through the roof.

President Donald Trump announced Saturday afternoon (Washington time, 6:30 a.m. AEST) that an agreement was "largely negotiated" between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In a message posted on Truth Social, he specified that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was part of the agreed-upon elements, alongside provisions on Iran's nuclear program. The "final aspects and details" remain under discussion, Trump said, and he also noted that his separate call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "went very well".

To reach this announcement, Trump conducted an intense series of diplomatic calls with Gulf leaders — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar — as well as with Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both arrived at the White House Saturday afternoon, signaling the intensity of last-minute consultations.

On the Australian side, the government response is deliberately measured. Charlton reminded the public that Canberra had been calling for de-escalation and negotiation on outstanding issues "for a long time". "The longer this crisis persists, the greater the impact on the global economy," he said, before adding that "a series of questions" remained to be settled between Washington and Tehran. This caution reflects less fundamental skepticism than learned mistrust: this would not be the first time Trump announced a deal before it was actually concluded.

Australian media — the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age chief among them — note that influential hawks in Washington have publicly pressed Trump to reject the peace plan and resume bombing. The agreement thus remains dependent on internal American balances that Canberra cannot control but watches intently for every signal. For Australia, whose trade stability in the Indo-Pacific partly depends on the fluidity of Gulf shipping lanes, the reopening of Hormuz represents both a concrete economic and geopolitical stake.