Australia has emphasised its support for US strikes on Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
After days of escalation, the US launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday (AEST) as President Donald Trump declared “there will be peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran”.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has urged all parties to prioritise diplomacy and dialogue to prevent a “full-scale war” in the Middle East.
“We support action to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that is what this is,” she told Nine’s Today show on Monday.
“It’s what happens next is what the world is focused on.”
The foreign minister said Washington had not made any requests of Australia.
But she would not say whether or not the joint US intelligence surveillance base, Pine Gap, in the Northern Territory played a role in the operation.
Senator Wong also said the number of Australians who had registered for help to leave the region had jumped to about 2900 in Iran and 1300 in Israel.
Department of Foreign Affairs staff were evacuated from the embassy in Tehran last week and are helping Australian citizens and residents who make it through Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.
“We had to make a difficult decision to tell our officials to leave the country,” Senator Wong said.
Senator Wong has previously said that while Australia has deployed Australian Defence Force personnel to assist with evacuation efforts, they aren’t there for combat purposes.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said it “goes without saying that Iran was up to no good”.
“This could go south in the most tremendous way for Australia and I did see a sense of gloating and hubris from the United States,” he told Seven’s Sunrise show on Monday.
“That is alright if it is the end of the game, but if this takes the next step we are all going to be involved.”
Despite questions over whether Australia should do more to support its major ally, former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos said combat troops weren’t the way forward.
“There’s no way we would put troops on the ground,” he told AAP.
“I don’t think the government or the political establishment here are suggesting that we just follow whatever the US is going to do.
“I’d be very surprised if there’s anybody saying that we, automatically as a result of what the US has done, are now part of that conflict.”
Australia has previously provided some resources around shipping lanes, but during the recent outbreak of violence, the government has refused to entertain the possibility of military involvement.
While the coalition has insisted it does not want war, acting foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie said the opposition supported the US bombings as a “necessary action to take”.
However, the American strikes have also been labelled as a “terrifying and catastrophic escalation” with the Greens warning further violence from Israel or the US would impact ordinary Iranian civilians.
Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia’s response to the bombings would be defining.
“Australia should welcome US bombing of Iran’s nuclear program,” Mr Downer said on X.
“We’ve been a US ally since 1951 as well as a consistent supporter of nuclear non-proliferation.”
Source: AAP
