James Morrow opinion: Albanese government finally wakes up to Iran threat after weekend in hiding
The Albanese government spent its weekend like a Bondi hipster with an office job, staying silent on Iran and simply mouthing peace and love – but finally it has realised it needs to go to work, writes James Morrow.
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Like a Bondi hipster with an office job, the Albanese government spent the weekend mouthing peace, love and mung beans platitudes only to realise Monday morning that it still had to go to work.
On Sunday, not long after word came through of the US strike on Iran’s nuclear power program the government ran all but dead on the issue.
The prime minister’s office issued a pro-forma statement saying “now is the time for peace” and included the usual calls for “de-escalation, dialogue, and diplomacy.”
But on Monday morning, not even 24 hours later, oh how the tone had changed.
There was a Foreign Minister gravely making the rounds of the morning radio and TV shows saying, the government supported US action.
“The world has long understood we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon … we support action to prevent Iran getting a nuclear weapon,” Wong told Nine’s Today.
Pressed, Wong said the government “support(s) action” to stop Iran getting nukes, and cited international agencies who said Tehran was getting damned close.
As to de-escalation?
“We do say what happens next matters … ultimately we want to see de-escalation and diplomacy,” she said.
It’s quite the turnabout for a government that has for some time now been trying to put as much distance as it safely could between itself and the Trump administration in Washington.
Meanwhile, the prime minister hasn’t been seen in public since returning empty-handed from the G7 summit.
Aside from a few protesters in Melbourne (or “Naarm”, as the protesters probably call it), global reaction to US president Donald Trump’s operation has been oddly muted.
Even among dictatorships and autocracies, Tehran’s mullahs have become Neville No-Friends, with no one wanting to get their back if it involves anything more than a strongly worded statement.
As whatever is left of Iran’s leadership class tries to work out what to do next, the fact that not even some of their supposedly closest pals seem to want to get involved should concern them greatly.
With no control over their own airspace, Iran has few options.
It can continue fighting with Israel for as long as possible and, like the Hamas terrorists Iran sponsors, play the victim.
It can go for whatever the Islamic Republic equivalent of a “Hail Mary” play might be and start striking US assets in the Middle East, or even oil shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but this would be suicidal.
Or it can go cap in hand to the negotiating table and essentially sue for peace, which is probably their best option if the mullahs and ayatollahs in charge do not with themselves to become martyrs for their own revolution.
This isolation and weakness is remarkable and shows just how much things have changed.
There was a time when the sort of mission the US just pulled off – stealth bombers, bunker busting bombs – would have provoked global outrage, diplomatic protests, and angry flag burnings for the cameras in capital cities across the Middle East.
Yet, from a quick survey of the global news, it appears the biggest protest may have been in Melbourne where demonstrators tromped down St. Kilda Road chanting against American military action like it was 1970 all over again.
Russia, Iran’s “strategic partner” who also inconveniently also maintains ties to Israel, issued the usual condemnations about America starting a new war for itself.
Amazingly Russia also accused the US of violating international law, something a few people in Ukraine might have something to say about.
China’s foreign minister “strongly condemned” the attack but didn’t seem to show much more interest in getting involved beyond making the standard calls for peace.
Their spokesman said they called “on the parties to the conflict, Israel in particular, to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible, ensure the safety of civilians, and start dialogue and negotiation.”
The Arab world, which once shared Israel as a common enemy with Iran, has hardly erupted either.
Saudi Arabia denounced the strikes as a matter of course but also sounded very Albo-like in its official statement, expressing “the need to exert all efforts to exercise restraint, de-escalate, and avoid escalation.”
So where to from here?
Without friends and with a dwindling supply of weapons, Iran doesn’t have a lot of choices.
As Trump tweeted Monday, perhaps the best option would be for the leadership to go – and a new team come in to, as he put it, MIGA – “Make Iran Great Again!”
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Originally published as James Morrow opinion: Albanese government finally wakes up to Iran threat after weekend in hiding
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