Ayatollah Khamenei ‘will not be mourned’, says Albanese
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More news: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed in a joint US-Israeli attack, will “not be mourned” but has urged against escalation in the Middle East.
The US and Israel have both confirmed that Khamenei, Iran’s leader since 1989, was killed in a wave of attacks across the country launched on Saturday evening (AEDT).
“His passing will not be mourned,” Albanese told reporters at a press conference on Sunday, after meeting with the national security committee.
Iranian state TV has confirmed Khamenei’s death.
Albanese stressed Iran’s involvement in antisemitic attacks in Australia and deflected questions about the attack’s impact on the international rules-based order, which he has previously championed.
“We have not been immune from the impacts of the regime’s actions,” Albanese said.
“Right here in Australia, our valued Iranian-Australian community …. see what happens overseas and it understandably affects them greatly, as they fear for the safety and security of family and friends.”
Albanese characterised Iran’s retaliation, which included strikes against the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, as “aggressive” and aired his concern over regional escalation.
“This is an aggression and consistent with the nature of the regime,” he said.
The prime minister said overthrowing the regime in Iran, where mass protests have been met with a brutal crackdown in recent months, was a matter for the Iranian people.
“But we stand with the Iranian people in standing up for their human rights. They have suffered being singled out across the board,” he said.
“We hope that the Iranian people are able to determine their own destiny.”
Albanese did not reveal whether he had spoken to US President Donald Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the attack, but said Australia would “continue to engage diplomatically”.
The government expelled the Iranian ambassador last year, after intelligence agencies uncovered “credible” evidence that Tehran was involved in a spate of antisemitic attacks across Australia. It was the first time Australia had taken such a step since World War Two.
Albanese stressed Australia’s ability to provide consular support in Iran is “extremely limited”, while the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned Australians could be targeted for kidnapping.
What they said: “While we aren’t directly active in the current military strikes, we have been clear [about], and acted on, our utter race rejection of the brutal Iranian regime,” Albanese said.
Trump confirms Ayatollah is dead, Wong plays down prospect of Australian involvement
The news: Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she “would not expect” Australian troops to participate in the US-Iran conflict but declined to reveal whether US intelligence facilities in Australia were involved in Washington’s attacks.
The context: US President Donald Trump revealed on Sunday that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed in a joint assault launched with Israel on Saturday evening (AEDT).
“I’ve seen the reports. I don’t have independent confirmation,” Wong told reporters after an emergency meeting of the national security committee on Sunday.
“I think no one would mourn the passing of Ayatollah Khamenei.”
Trump’s explicit call for a regime change in Iran, which he had ruled out when running for president, has also raised the stakes for Tehran and threatens to accelerate the conflict into a full-blown war.
Wong stopped short of issuing a full-throated endorsement of Trump’s attack, but said Australia supported efforts to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The foreign minister stressed the regime’s brutalisation of its own people and allegations that Tehran coordinated two antisemitic attacks in Australia, which prompted Canberra to expel the Iranian ambassador last year.
“A regime that requires a murder of its own people to maintain authority is a regime without legitimacy,” she said.
The foreign minister stressed that Australian military personnel were not involved in the attacks, and the government did not want to see a broader escalation of the conflict.
But she refused to be drawn on whether Pine Gap, a secretive joint Australia-US satellite surveillance base located near Alice Springs, was involved in the joint US-Israeli actions.
“We never comment on that facility as a general proposition,” Wong said.
Australia, the UK and Canada have all publicly supported actions designed to prevent the regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon, despite Trump claiming just this week that Iran’s nuclear programme had been “obliterated”.
Earlier this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade urged Australians in Israel and Lebanon to evacuate the region as the prospect of a US assault loomed. Wong said ensuring the safety of Australians in the region was her top priority.
Tehran responded by targeting a series of American military bases in the region — in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Kuwait — as the death toll in Iran reportedly reached 200. Trump has warned the US may sustain casualties as Iran responds.
Wong urged Iran to cease what she described as “indiscriminate” attacks on countries in the region which she said were “not party to this conflict”.
She also confirmed Australia was not warned in advance by the US — its key ally — of the attack but claimed “you would not expect us to be”.
Wong, who has repeatedly stressed the importance of international law, declined to say whether she believed the attacks were legal, saying it was up to “the United States and Israel to speak to the legal basis for the attacks”.
It is the second time she has reacted positively to US military action against Iran without backing their legality.
Khamenei’s death comes just over a year after Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran proxy paramilitary group Hezbollah, was assassinated by Israel in Lebanon. The degrading of Hezbollah’s capabilities, combined with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, in recent years has severely weakened Tehran’s influence in the region.
What they said: “Australia did not participate in these strikes. We are in contact with our international partners. We do not want to see this escalate into a wider regional conflict,” Wong said.
The sources: Penny Wong press conference, Axios, The Guardian , Time Magazine, Anthony Albanese press conference
