Coalition and Jewish leaders welcome ‘courageous’ move

Former Liberal prime ministers, the Coalition and Jewish leaders have all backed US strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites.

Pro-Iran protesters gather in Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: Ian Currie

Two former Liberal prime ministers, the Coalition and Australian Jewish leaders have backed US President Donald Trump after he authorised strikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites, while the Greens condemned the attacks for causing an “escalation in violence”.

Both Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott issued statements of support for the “necessary” attacks on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities, with Mr Morrison arguing there was “no other option” to prevent Iran from mobilising a ­nuclear weapon.

“Does anyone welcome events like this? Of course they don’t,” Mr Morrison told Sky News on Sunday. “But this was a necessary event. There were no other options available to the President.”

Mr Morrison said the US military was “the only military in the world” capable of striking Iran in the way it has, and added Mr Trump had shown he was a president who advocates for “peace through strength”.

Mr Morrison said the strikes came only “after the failure of so many interventions in the past”.

“When all other avenues fail, this is not a President that wishes to rush to these outcomes … but if necessary will,” he said.

In a post on X, Mr Abbott said Israel’s actions were welcome. “Israel is doing the world’s work in trying to destroy forever the Iranian nuclear weapons program and it’s good that America has supported its ally,” he said.

Sussan Ley on Sunday issued a similar statement of support for the attacks, saying the world can “never accept a nuclear-armed Iranian regime”. The Opposition Leader said Iran sought to destroy Australia’s allies, and the government should not allow “the Iranian regime the capacity to enact its objectives of the destruction of the United States and Israel”.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. Picture: Martin Ollman/NewsWire

“It was made clear by the International Atomic and Energy Agency on 12 June that Iran was in breach of its Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations after stock­piling more than 400kg of 60 per cent enriched uranium at Fordow, the last step in enrichment towards a nuclear weapon,” she said.

“The world can never accept a nuclear-armed Iranian regime and today the United States military has taken proactive action to ensure that we never need to. A nuclear-armed Iranian regime would be a serious and direct threat to world peace and stability, especially as it continues to engage in terrorism including by supporting its proxies: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.”

She said the Coalition “stands with the United States”.

Acting opposition foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie said the Albanese government’s response to the strikes was “far too ambiguous”, after an unnamed government spokesperson called for “de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy”.

Acting opposition foreign affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie. Picture: Richard Dobson/NewsWire

“The United States is a close ally. The United States has a key role in re-establishing order and peace in the Middle East,” he said.

“And Iran, by contrast, is a regime that sponsors terrorism. It sponsored Hamas, Hezbollah.”

Liberal senator David Sharma said the Albanese government’s attitude towards growing tensions between Israel and Iran was “unanchored from reality”.

He told Sky News Labor had been “calling for dialogue between Israel and Iran”. “These countries have not had diplomatic relations for 46 years,” he said.

Senator Sharma said Australia should focus on the “outcome we want” not the “process that needs to be gone through”.

“The outcome that is clearly in Australia’s national interest is an Iran that is no longer able to pursue nuclear weapons, does not support armed terrorist groups in the region, and does not harbour imperialistic designs to its neighbours and does not amass thousands of ballistic missiles,” he said.

Greens defence spokesman David Shoebridge slammed Labor for being complicit in the “escalation in violence” in the Middle East, calling for Australia to distance itself from the US.

Greens defence spokesman David Shoebridge. Picture: Damian Shaw/NewsWire

Mr Shoebridge told the ABC the Albanese government should back out of the AUKUS agreement to ensure Australia is a “force for peace”.

“At this moment, being silent when a bully like Donald Trump breaks international law and starts the United States’ third war in the region just this century, being silent is complicit in that escalation and violence,” he said.

“Where is the red line the Albanese government has for the escalation and violence?”

He called on Labor to “make a clear statement” that “no military base in Australia, whether a joint military base with the United States or otherwise, will be used for this unfolding US war”.

The Palestine Action Group ­organised an anti-Israel protest in Sydney on Sunday, calling for the Albanese government to “stop supporting (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and Trump’s war”.

In Melbourne, protesters marched from the State Library to the US Consulate waving Iranian and Palestinian flags, calling on America to “stop attacking Iran”.

Protesters gather outside the US Consulate in Melbourne. Picture: Ian Currie

The Australian/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council praised the “welcome” assaults on the Iranian sites, saying the US attacks would support Australia’s national security interests.

Executive director Colin Rubenstein described the Fordow underground nuclear site as “the linchpin of the Iranian nuclear program” and said the US strike on the facility “provides much greater confidence that Iran’s illegal pursuit of nuclear weapons capabilities will not be reconstituted any time soon”.

“US President Trump deserves congratulations for making a difficult but essential and courageous decision to intervene in the interests of not only the US, but of ­global security and stability – including Australia’s national security interests,” Mr Rubenstein said.

“We now hope and pray the war between Iran and Israel can be brought to a rapid close and measures put in place that guarantee the rogue regime in Iran is never again able to present a similar menace to its neighbours, to international stability, or to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement.”

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler says the US attacks were a “necessary and courageous response to an urgent threat”.

“The Iranian regime has for years pursued nuclear weapons while sponsoring terrorism that has killed thousands of Israelis, Americans, and others,” he said. “Iran’s actions are not just a danger to Israel, they are a clear and present threat to the West and the international rules-based order.

“We commend President Trump and the United States for their moral clarity and leadership in taking decisive action.”