Australia's Albanese says Canberra supports US strike on Iran
STORY: :: June 23, 2025
:: Canberra, Australia
:: Australia's Albanese says that Canberra supports the U.S. strike on Iran but wants to avoid a 'full scale war'
:: Anthony Albanese, Australian Prime Minister
"The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and we support action to prevent that, that is what this is. The U.S. action was directed at specific sites central to Iran's nuclear program. We don't want escalation and a full scale war. We continue to call for dialogue and for diplomacy. As I've said for many days now, we are deeply concerned about any escalation in the region and we want to see diplomacy, dialogue and de-escalation."
"We have been upfront about the challenge facing the international community, that is, dealing with the threat posed by any Iranian nuclear weapons program and dealing with the risk of regional escalation. And that's why Australia called upon Iran to come to the table and abandon any nuclear weapons program. Iran didn't come to the table, just as it has repeatedly failed to comply with it's international obligations. We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilize the region."
"The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and we support action to prevent that," Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
Albanese said "the information has been clear" that Iran had enriched uranium to 60 percent and "there is no other explanation for it to reach 60, other than engaging in a program that wasn't about civilian nuclear power."
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog that inspects Iran's nuclear facilities, reported on May 31 that Iran had enough uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons.
Australia closed its embassy in Tehran on Friday (June 20), after Wong spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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