Australia backs U.S. strikes on Iran

Australia has voiced support for U.S. air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, while urging all sides to avoid a slide into "full-scale war" in the Middle East, the government said Monday.

"Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. We support action to prevent that from occurring, and this is what this is," Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters.

"What happens now matters. We do not want to see escalation. We do call for diplomacy, de-escalation and dialogue because the world does not want to see full-scale war in the Middle East."

Wong said the U.S. strikes targeted sites linked to Iran’s nuclear program, citing findings from the UN’s nuclear watchdog that Tehran’s uranium enrichment efforts had breached international obligations.

Australia’s conservative opposition also backed the U.S. military action. However, the smaller Greens Party condemned the strikes as a “blatant breach of international law.”

Australia’s national security strategy remains closely tied to its alliance with the United States. In 2021, Canberra joined Washington and London in the AUKUS pact—a decades-long agreement to equip the Australian navy with nuclear-powered submarines, aimed at countering China's growing regional influence.