Acting PM tells Aussies in Tehran to ‘shelter in place’ as government tries to help them leave
The Australian government is working on plans to try to help more than 1200 Aussies stranded in Iran and Israel as the conflict escalates.
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Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has urged Australians in Tehran to “shelter in place” despite US President Donald Trump’s calls for the city’s entire population to be evacuated.
Speaking on the ABC’s 7.300, Mr Marles said the “reality” of the situation does not allow for a lot of movement.
“The airspace above Iran and Israel right now is closed. There are thousands of Australians across Iran and Israel, and so our advice is very much shelter in place,” the defence minister said.
“Look at the Smart Traveller website … the advice which is coming from there. We do have the consular emergency contact and people are registering with that.
“We will continue to work in preparation for being able to do an assisted departure and as soon as the airspace opens in any form, we will start putting that into effect.”
7.30 host David Speers asked Mr Marles if he believed recent activity from the United States was at odds with Australia’s emphasis on de-escalation.
“What I’m not doing now is speculating on what the US might do. I take the US on face value,” Mr Marles said.
“They are saying they are adopting a defensive posture, and that is defensive of their people and their assets within the region.
“What we want to see is a de-escalation. We are concerned that what is playing out in the Middle East is giving rise to the potential for escalation.”
Australians Scramble to Leave
Hundreds of Australians are scrambling to leave Iran and Israel as conflict between the Middle Eastern powers continues to escalate.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said around 1250 Australians across both countries were seeking to leave, with numbers “increasing quite rapidly”.
“We are making plans to assist Australians where it is safe to do so,” Senator Wong said.
“At the moment, air space continues to be closed and the reason for that is the risk to civilian aircraft of a (potential missile) strike.
“Obviously we will continue to prepare plans to assist Australians … we’re looking at all options and assessing very carefully the security implications … of various options.”
Senator Wong said roughly 650 Australians are currently trying to leave Iran and another 600 are attempting to get out of Israel.
Israel and Iran continue to trade missile barrages, and both countries have reported casualties.
Co-ordinated strikes by the IDF have reportedly killed a number of high-ranking Iranian officials, including the recently-appointed Chief of Staff of Iran’s armed forces Ali Shadmani.
Israel has also bombed the Tehran offices of Iran’s state broadcasting service IRIB.
Missile impacts have been reported in and around Tel Aviv, and the IDF has reported shooting down dozens of drones which it alleges were sent by Iran.
‘A Perilous Moment’
Jim Chalmers has issued a fresh warning about the economic fallout of the spiralling conflict between nuclear-armed Israel and Iran.
It came after Donald Trump on Tuesday (AEST) hinted at a major escalation in the Middle East.
The Treasurer said it was a “perilous moment for the Middle East, but also a perilous moment for the global economy”.
“The starkest way that we see the impacts of what’s happening is with the oil price,” Mr Chalmers told Sky News.
“If you think about last Friday, the oil price jumped almost 11 per cent … in a single day.”
He said it “has big implications for the global economy, has implications for inflation, but also for global growth at a time when the global environment is already very uncertain”.
But Mr Chalmers downplayed concerns the spike in oil prices could lead to higher fuel prices in Australia long term, saying it was “hard to imagine that any day to day movement in markets will be permanent”.
In the near term, he said there was “potential of higher petrol prices” but it “usually takes a couple of weeks before the international barrel price reaches the bowser price in the suburbs and towns of Australia”.
“But we do have genuine concerns, particularly around if the situation deteriorates further in the Middle East,” Mr Chalmers said.
“Sea lanes in and around the Middle East are very important but there is the prospect of upward pressure on petrol prices.
“There is the price prospect of downward pressure on global growth at a time when these escalating trade tensions and other uncertainty in the world is already weighing pretty heavily on global growth.”
He said the Albanese government was not immediately looking to cut the fuel excise if fuel prices jumped because of how turbulent the market was.
“We’re providing cost of living help in other ways, we think that makes more sense,” Mr Chalmers said.
‘Evacuate Tehran’
The US President has called for “everyone” to evacuate Tehran as the Albanese government scrambles to help Australians trying to flee the Iranian capital.
Mr Trump posted the ominous message on social media just before the White House announced he was bailing on the G7 summit in Canada.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Mr Trump wrote, referring to failed nuclear talks with the Iranian regime.
“What a shame, and waste of human life.
“Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!
“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Announcing Mr Trump would be returning to Washington, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US “had a great day at the G7”.
“Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” she said.
Mr Trump’s sudden departure from the G7 meant his scheduled meeting with Anthony Albanese was canned.
“Given what is occurring in the Middle East this is understandable,” a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.
“As the Prime Minister said a short time ago, we are very concerned about the events in the Middle East and continue to urge all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy.”
The airspaces in Israel and Iran remained closed on Tuesday morning as the countries continued trading deadly strikes.
In Iran, state media reported heavy blasts across Tehran as the number of senior military officials climbed to 16.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have been fending off barrages of Iranian missiles and drones, with air raid sirens ringing across Israel.
Israel launched its “pre-emptive” offensive last week after the UN’s atomic watchdog declared Iran was breaching its obligations.
Inspectors admitting they could not say if the Islamic republic’s nuclear program was “exclusively peaceful”.
Australia has shut embassies across the Middle East, issued do not travel alerts and opened crisis portals.
Hundreds of Australians have already registered for help fleeing the spiralling conflict.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy earlier said the Albanese government was “very focused on supporting Australians to get out of the zone when we’re able to”.
“The air zones are closed at the moment, so planes can’t get in and out, but we’re preparing plans to evacuate Australians or assist in them getting onto commercial flights when those zones do open again,” Mr Conroy told the ABC.
He also said there were likely “a lot of dual citizens there who’ll probably want to stay in place”.
But for those looking to leave, Mr Conroy called on them to “register with (the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) so they can get the latest information about flights”.
“It’s going to be challenging,” he said.
“There’ll be a lot of people probably wanting to exit, so we have to be careful, but we’re in contact with as many people as possible and the DFAT team at the crisis centre are doing great work.”
Originally published as Acting PM tells Aussies in Tehran to ‘shelter in place’ as government tries to help them leave
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