Arabic version: هوكي يربط حرب إيران بالتوجه نحو العناصر الأرضية النادرة
According to ABC News, former US ambassador and treasurer Joe Hockey told the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum that bad intelligence and overconfidence had helped prolong Washington’s war with Iran. Speaking in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, he said Israel had convinced US President Donald Trump that the Iranian regime would fall and that the conflict would be short-term.
Hockey said the success of the move against Venezuela’s Maduro government had partly inspired Trump’s action against Iran. He said the military had warned Trump that the Strait of Hormuz was vulnerable, but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had persuaded him the regime would collapse. “Well that was just stupid, it was wrong,” Hockey said.
The former treasurer, now president of a Washington DC-based lobbying firm, said conflict and disruption had prompted shifts in US policy. He said Washington was reviewing supply chains and viewed Australia as a trusted supplier of rare earths and critical minerals. Hockey said US government loan guarantees or investment could help open capital markets for Australian companies and projects.
Rare-earth supply chains were a central subject at the forum, which drew more than 2,500 delegates to Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Iluka Resources is building a $1.8 billion rare earths refinery at Eneabba in Western Australia’s Midwest and expects commissioning next year. In June, the Perth-headquartered company signed its first offtake agreement with an unnamed global car maker for magnet rare earth oxides from 2028.
Iluka head of rare earths Dan McGrath said discussions with potential partners were confidential because supply chains still depended on China, which supplies about 90 per cent of the world’s rare earths. India’s High Commissioner to Australia, Nagesh Singh, said trade and resources were being weaponised and called for greater cooperation among like-minded countries. Western Australia’s Chamber of Minerals and Energy also warned that AUKUS-related infrastructure could add pressure to the state’s workforce.
