Australia’s government insists it still has not received any direct requests from the United States for military aid in its war with Iran, after a public attack from Donald Trump.

The US President criticised allied countries for not providing assistance in the conflict, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to put pressure on global oil prices.

“(UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer) didn’t want to help us. Australia, too. Australia was not great. I was a little surprised by Australia,” Trump said.

Australia is providing military assistance in the Persian Gulf region following a request from the United Arab Emirates.

Defence Minister Richard Marles would not be drawn on the President’s criticism, but said no requests from the White House have been received.

“The last thing I’m going to do is give a running commentary on what the President has said – all we can do is respond to this situation, respond to the requests that are made of us,” he told ABC TV on Friday.

“We’re looking at all the requests that we get from countries around the world, including the United States, and obviously we answer them in the context of our national interest.

“Defending the states of the Gulf is really important, given our relationship with them.”

An E-7A Wedgetail military surveillance plane, along with 85 defence personnel, has been sent to the UAE to monitor Iranian drone strikes.

The request for help from the UAE has been the only one received by Australia since the US-Israel war with Iran began, Marles said.

“The E-7 is in in the region, and it is playing a really important part,” he said.

“It is playing an important role in respect of the defence of the gulf states. We will work this through with our friends and our partners, to look at what role we can play.

The US President has extended a self-imposed deadline to Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz to April 6 before potential strikes on energy infrastructure.

Federal minister Murray Watt said it was imperative for the war to be resolved as soon as possible.

“From Australia’s perspective, we support anything that is going to get the Strait of Hormuz open as quickly as possible and restore some of the interrupted fuel chains that we have,” Watt told ABC Radio on Friday.

“The longer this dispute goes on and the longer the Strait of Hormuz is closed, that’s going to continue to have impacts on the Australian economy and Australian families.”

Coalition frontbencher Sarah Henderson said the government needed to outline why military help had not been provided to the US.

“It’s quite embarrassing that in the international stage we have been called out as not providing appropriate assistance to the US,” she told Sky News.

“The US is our strongest defence ally. This is pretty grim news overnight from the United States.”

Donald Trump has called Iranian negotiators “very different” in an online post.

Meanwhile, Trump says he will pause attacks on Iran’s energy plants for 10 days at Tehran’s request and that talks with Iran are going “very well”.

This is despite an Iranian official dismissing a US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting as “one-sided and unfair”.

Trump made the comment in a Truth Social post on Thursday, shortly after threatening during a cabinet meeting at the White House to increase pressure on Iran if it did not make a deal.

“As per Iranian Government request … I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” Trump said in the post.

“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” he said. 

The war, which has raged for nearly four weeks, has massively disrupted shipping, sending crude oil prices up nearly 40 per cent and causing a spike of nearly 67 per cent in shipments of liquefied natural gas to Asia. Prices of nitrogen-based fertilisers, critical to food production, have risen by nearly 50 per cent.

Despite Trump’s upbeat assessment, Iran continued to retaliate against US and Israeli strikes by hitting Israel and US bases. It also struck Gulf states and effectively blocked Middle East fuel exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

During the White House meeting, Trump said the United States would become the Islamic Republic’s “worst nightmare” if it did not comply with US demands, which include opening the strait and ending Tehran’s nuclear program. He said taking control of Iran’s oil was an option, but gave no details.

The Iranian official told Reuters that a 15-point US proposal, conveyed to Tehran by Pakistan, was reviewed ⁠in detail on Wednesday by senior Iranian officials and the representative of Iran’s supreme leader. While they felt it served only US and Israeli interests, diplomacy had not ended, the official said.

–AAP