Spectator Australia · Reza Arab and Saeed Ghasseminejad · Tuesday 14 April 2026
Spectator Australia examines Iran's expanded hostage-taking operations and what opportunities and risks they present for Australian foreign policy, while related coverage highlights Australia's fuel dependency on the very region it seeks to influence.
The Spectator reckons Iran's at a crossroads, which is generous — Iran's been at the same crossroads since 1979, it just keeps turning the same way. Australia's 'opportunity' here amounts to writing op-eds about a country whose hostage policy has more strategic coherence than our entire Middle East posture. We can't secure three weeks of fuel from the region but we're ready to discuss its geopolitics. Mate, you don't get a seat at the table when you can't keep the lights on.