The Australian government has backed United States military action against Iran and warned of “reprisal attacks and further escalation” in the Middle East in the wake of a series of strikes that have plunged the region into a new phase of conflict.
Australia “stands with the brave people of Iran”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a joint statement on Saturday night, as they declared their support for the US’ actions to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The prime minister’s office has also confirmed he will convene a meeting of the National Security Committee on Sunday.
The Iranian regime had been a “destabilising force” for decades, Albanese said, “through its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, support for armed proxies, and brutal acts of violence and intimidation”.
Albanese pointed to two attacks the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was accused of directing against Australia’s Jewish community, saying they were “intended to create fear” and “divide our society”.
The Iranian government had failed to uphold the human rights and freedoms of its citizens, the prime minister said.
“With international partners, including the United States and the G7, we have called for the Iranian regime to uphold the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Iran’s citizens,” Albanese said.
“These calls have gone unheeded. Instead, the regime has instigated a brutal crackdown on its own people leaving thousands of Iranian civilians dead. A regime that relies on the repression and murder of its own people to retain power is without legitimacy.”
Albanese said Iran’s nuclear program was a “threat to global peace and security” and the international community had been clear the regime “can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon”.
“We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security,” he said.
The Iranian regime has always denied claims it’s pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its program is aimed at “developing civilian nuclear power”.
Soon after the attacks, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) Smartraveller website warned of the “risk of reprisal attacks and further escalation across the region”.
DFAT earlier this week told Australian diplomats’ families in the Middle East to leave amid a “deteriorating security situation”.
“If you remain in Iran, be prepared to shelter in place for an extended period. Make sure you have supplies of water, food and medication,” DFAT said in its update on Saturday.
The first wave of strikes in what the US Pentagon named “OPERATION EPIC FURY” mainly targeted Iranian officials, according to a source familiar with the matter, the Reuters news agency reported.
An Israeli official said Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were both targeted but the result of the strikes was not clear.
A source with knowledge of the matter had earlier told Reuters that Khamenei was not in Tehran and had been transferred to a secure location.
An Iranian source close to the establishment said several senior commanders in the IRGC and political officials had been killed. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
IRGC said a first wave of retaliatory Iranian missile and drone attacks had been launched against Israel, and that all US bases and interests in the region were within Iran’s reach, an Iranian official told Reuters.
Several Gulf Arab states also said they were targeted by Iranian missiles.
Iran’s retaliation would continue until “the enemy is decisively defeated,” the IRGC said.
The attack comes less than a year after a 12-day air war in June between Israel and Iran and repeated US-Israeli warnings that they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile program.
— With reporting by the Reuters news agency.
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