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Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken directly with her Iranian counterpart, urging him in a phone call to exercise restraint as his country launches more missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s unprecedented attacks on Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel attacked Iran on Friday, with strikes that targeted and killed several top officials and nuclear scientists and dozens of civilians, while Iran’s responding strikes have largely been intercepted but still injured dozens and killed at least three people in Israel.
Wong said she spoke on Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, after liaising with partners, telling him: “Whatever happens tomorrow affects all people in the region.”
“I directly put to the Iranian foreign minister, ‘We are saying to you, exercise restraint, return to diplomacy and dialogue’, because continuing to escalate this has consequences for all peoples of the region and I think that is a position that so many countries in the world are putting to not only the Iranians, but also to the Israelis,” Wong told the ABC.
Wong said she has also spoken with the Israeli government through ambassadors with a similiar message of restraint.
Asked whether the Australian government considered Israel’s actions as justified and legal, she said: “Israel has a right to self-defence. But the question here is not a legal proposition, the question here is what do we do now? We know Iran is a threat. We know that its nuclear program poses a threat to international peace and obviously to Israel. What do we do about it? And how do we respond in a way that lessens the risk of more civilians particularly in the region being brought in to this conflict.”
Airspaces have been closed in Israel and Iran, as well as neighbours Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport has been closed until further notice.
Wong said the Middle East was facing a perilous period and that Australians in both sides are being told to shelter.
“Obviously this is a very perilous situation. It’s a very risky situation,” she said.
“My thoughts are with Australians and their families who are in Israel and in Iran and for people who have relatives in those countries,” she said.
“Our advice has been to shelter in place, to take hard shelter, to make sure you keep in touch with Smartraveller, be aware of what the warnings are and messages are on Smartraveller and to follow the advice of local authorities.”
The Australian government’s Smartraveller platform has warned Australians not to travel to Israel or Iran and says those in Iran should shelter in place.
Ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with US president Donald Trump at the G7 summit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian government was monitoring the situation and doing what it can to look after Australian citizens.
Australia not expecting call for military help: PM
Britain says it was moving additional military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East to provide support across the region.
Albanese was asked whether Australia would follow suit.
“Australia does not play a role in this military conflict,” he said.
“I wouldn’t expect that there would be a request for Australia to play a military role, but we will continue to play a role in terms of looking after Australian citizens.”
A statement from the Iranian foreign ministry said Araghchi used the conversation with Wong to discuss “the Israeli regime’s aggression against Iran, including attacks on military targets and nuclear facilities”.
Araghchi “warned about the consequences of the Israeli regime’s aggressive policies and called on all countries to take a clear stance on the issue and condemn the Zionist regime and pressure it to end its crimes in the region,” the statement read.
