Australia would consult with Iran over Syria air strikes: Julie Bishop

August 27, 2015 -

Australia would consult with Iran over possible plans to expand RAAF air strikes to Syria, underscoring Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop's push for more co-ordination with the Shiite regional power in the fight against Islamic State.

Ms Bishop told Fairfax Media on Wednesday that Iran would be one of a number of countries Australia would talk to if it decides to accept the formal request from Washington to expand air strikes from Iraq to more dangerous neighbour Syria.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has worked to deepen Australia's relationship with Iran. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Such talks are politically complex and sensitive, however. While Shiite Iran is a powerful force in fighting the Sunni extremist group, it has barely shrugged off its long-held international status as a rogue nation.

"If the Australian government agrees to the US request to expand its air combat operations against Daesh into Syria, the government would consult with a number of other nations including Iran," Ms Bishop said, using an alternative name for Islamic State.

"I have consulted with the Iranian leadership in the past on Australia's military role in Iraq, including training members of the Iraqi army.

Tony Abbott, pictured addressing schoolchildren during his visit to Bamaga, Cape York, on Wednesday, has repeated that Barack Obama raised the issue of expanded RAAF strikes with him in July. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

"Australia conducts regular dialogue with Iran on a range of important bilateral, regional and international issues affecting both of our countries. This includes the activities of Daesh in Iraq and Syria."

Her comments came as Prime Minister Tony Abbott repeated that US President Barack Obama had raised the issue of expanded RAAF strikes with him in a phone call in July, but declined to specifically deny Fairfax Media reports that Australia had been pushing for the US to make the request.

"All I know is that I was on the other end of the phone line, the President was on Air Force One," Mr Abbott said.

"The President had initiated this phone call to talk about the Trans-Pacific Partnership and after I'd initially expressed my condolences for the terrorist shootings in Chattanooga [Tennessee], the President then raised with me the Syrian situation and said that he would be very glad if Australia would do more, including air strikes, and I said that I was happy to consider that request and our officials would talk and now this request has come from the Pentagon."

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that the Abbott government, and in particular the Prime Minister's office, had been the driving force for the US request rather than Washington itself.

Ms Bishop has worked to deepen Australia's relationship with Iran, including with a visit to Tehran in April, in which she and the country's theocratic regime agreed to more intelligence sharing and made progress on a deal to repatriate failed Iranian asylum seekers from Australia.

And at a Paris summit in June to discuss the fight against the Islamic State, Ms Bishop called on other coalition countries to involve Iran more in the co-ordination of the campaign.

However, Iran is a complicated partner in the fight because it backs the despotic regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and provides massive support to Shiite militias in Iraq, who have carried out atrocities against Sunni civilians.