Cheney also encouraged further Australian involvement in Iraq: “The more allies we have and the more committed they are to the effort, the quicker we can anticipate success.”

The vice-president added that the allied coalition could not afford to “anticipate failure”. “We all have a stake in getting the right outcome in Iraq.”

Earlier, in an address in Sydney to the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue, Cheney had emphasised the importance of the challenge of defeating Islamist terror, underlining the long-term nature of the struggle for the US and its allies.

The International Atomic Energy Agency had reported on Friday that Iran had not only ignored a UN ultimatum to freeze the enrichment programme, but had expanded that programme by setting up hundreds of centrifuges.