Anthony Albanese says Australia not asked to join US blockade

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia has not been asked to join the US blockade of Iranian ports.

"We haven't been asked, and I don't expect we will be," he told Today this morning.

He said the federal government wanted to see the Strait of Hormuz opened for all commercial ships.

He described the Trump administration as carrying out its blockade in a "unilateral way".

Albanese also confirmed the RAAF E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft and 90 ADF personnel supporting it will have their deployment in the Middle East extended by four weeks.

The federal government announced last month that the plane was being sent to help defend Gulf nations from Iranian strikes.

Watch the full interview with Albanese in the video above