The federal government has called for “de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy” after the US bombedIran, as almost 4,000 Australian citizens attempt to escape the conflict zone.
Donald Trump said the US had “totally obliterated” key Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities after directly intervening to aid Israel’s mission to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program.
Trump saidIran, which he called “the bully of the Middle East”, “must make peace”.
“If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. For 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death toIsrael.”
In a statement issued after Trump’s White House address, a federal government spokesperson did not explicitly endorse the strikes, but reiterated Australia’s position on the risk posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
“We have been clear that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program has been a threat to international peace and security,” a government spokesperson said.
“We note the US president’s statement that now is the time for peace. The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.”
Speaking before news of the bombings broke, the defence minister, Richard Marles, refused to be drawn on whether a US attack would be justified.
However, while repeating calls for a de-escalation in the conflict, Marles restated the government’s position that Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program was a threat to the region and “stability of the world”.
The government last weekdeployed Australian Defence Force(ADF) personnel to the Middle East to help evacuate citizens stuck in Israel and Iran amid the latest escalation in the conflict.
The number of Australian citizens seeking government help to evacuate the Middle East had reached 3,800 as of Sunday morning, including 2,600 people in Iran and 1,200 in Israel.
Marles confirmed chartered civilian aircraft were ready to depart as soon as airspace over Iran and Israel reopened.
“Australians in Israel and Iran and the region should continue to monitor public safety information provided by local authorities, including to shelter in place when required,” the government spokesperson said on Sunday.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be communicating directly with registered Australians about preparations for assisted departures.”
Also speaking before Trump’s announcement on the US strikes, the acting shadow foreign minister, Andrew Hastie, said he agreed with the government that Iran should not have nuclear weapons; that Israel had a right to defend itself; and that the war should end.
A former special forces soldier who served in Afghanistan, Hastie said he would be “very hesitant” to put Australian troops on the ground in the Middle East.
The international law expertProfDonald Rothwellsaid it was “virtually impossible” to mount a case that the US strikes were legal under international law.
Under article 51 of the UN charter, states can use force to defend themselves from an armed attack.
International law experts say the charter does not provide a broader right to pre-emptive attacks, such as the strikes Israel, and now the US, have launched on Iran.
Rothwell, a professor at the Australian National University, said given there had been no direct threat from Iran towards the US then Trump’s attack could not be justified.
“It’s virtually impossible, I think, for the United States to mount any credible legal argument [for the strikes] on that basis,” he said.
Rothwell said the US attacks could set a precedent for how other countries would use self-defence arguments as cover for pre-emptive attacks.
“The really concerning aspect of this is the precedent it sets. If the United States can do this, and this is a precedent that the United States is taking in terms of its interpretation of self-defence, or the way in which you can use force, then other states will take that into account in terms of how they consider their own future conduct.”
The Australian Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said the federal government should condemn the US attacks which she described as a “terrifying and catastrophic escalation”.
“From Iraq to Afghanistan, we have seen Australia follow the US into devastating and brutal wars that have done untold damage to the people of the Middle East,” she said. “We know that you cannot bomb your way to peace.”