Australia continues to walk a fine line of strategy ambiguity on the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran

Australia has continued to walk a fine line of strategy ambiguity on the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran amid ongoing questions about the attack’s legality and as allied nations are increasingly drawn into the conflict.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has again ruled out Australia sending any troops to the Middle East if requested by long-term ally the US and insisted they were actively engaging with nations in the region who are pushing for a diplomatic solution.

The conflict’s first four days has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but also widened to include 10 nations in retaliatory attacks, killing some 800 people across 131 cities including at least four US personnel.

Tensions in the Gulf are approaching a breaking point as the critical Strait of Hormuz has virtually halted oil exports from the region, prompting countries there to request assistance from allies for defensive drone operations and strike support.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Wednesday continued to support the US action, citing concern over Iran’s nuclear program but handballed questions about the justification of it under international law.

“I have made clear that this is a matter for Israel and the US, the legal basis of course, for those two countries to respond to,” she said.

“We’re not considering sending Australian troops into Iran.”

Senator Wong insisted she understood “there’s a lot of focus” on the legality of the strikes by pushed that it was “a matter for the United States and for Israel to explain”.

When asked about the contrast with Australia’s clear stance to label the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “illegal”, Senator Wong again insisted Iran was “a risk to global peace and security”.

Senator Wong also has avoided questions of whether Australia has been asked by the United Arab Emirates or Qatar to persuade Donald Trump to reach for an off-ramp on US involvement in the Middle East.

When asked if Australia had received requests from UAE and Qatar, who are reportedly privately lobbying allied countries to talk to the American leader, the Foreign Minister shifted to broad diplomatic engagement in the region.

“We have certainly been engaged with countries in the region,” she said, not referencing the US in her response.

“I think we all understand that the conflict at the moment is widening, and it is intensifying, and that is a great risk to the region, people of the region.

“It also has implications for the global economy. We also know that ultimately, in order to achieve stability, there will need to be dialog and diplomacy.”

She revealed Australia had deployed six Crisis Response Teams in the region to aid the return of Australians, with 115,000 estimated to be in the Middle East of which Senator Wong said “an unprecedented number” had registered for repatriation.

“We are deploying six Crisis Response Teams. This is additional consular support to help the people who are still there on the ground,” she said.

It comes as Mr Trump has fractured relations with international partners, including UK Prime Keir Starmer and European leaders.

He compared UK leader, one of America’s closest allies, unfavourably to Winston Churchill over Britain’s limited support for US strikes on Iran.

“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Mr Trump said at the White House, referencing Mr Starmer’s legendary World War Two predecessor.

Mr Starmer insisted the British military wasn’t involved in the strikes or conflict going forward but has offered the US airbases to use for their air offensive, and warned he did not believe in “regime change from the skies”.

On Monday, a British base in Cyprus was hit by a drone that Cypriot officials said was likely launched by Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Mr Trump also declared the US would cut off all trade with Spain after it refused to let the US military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran.

“Spain has been terrible,” Mr Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, adding that he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with the nation.

France has announced it will send its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Mediterranean and ‌is working to build a coalition of eight nations for “forward deterrence” nuclear exercises.

President Emmanuel Macron has revealed France would be stepping up its efforts in the region as European nations become increasingly concerned.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will move from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean escorted by its air wing and frigates.

He told a TV address on Tuesday that France’s Rafale fighter jets, air defence systems, and airborne radar systems have also been deployed in the Middle East.

Mr Trump also claimed he had “forced Israel’s hand” to take part in the strikes against Iran amid concerns it was rebuilding its nuclear program after America bombed it in mid-2025.

“Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recalibrated his position on Iran during a Sydney press conference on Wednesday, saying that his initial welcoming of the strikes at the weekend wasn’t a blank cheque.

“The United States and Israel have acted without engaging the United Nations or consulting allies, including Canada,” he said.

“With a rapidly spreading conflict and growing threats to civilian life, Canada reaffirms that international law binds all belligerents.

“We condemn the strikes carried out by Iran on civilians and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East, and we implore all parties, including the United States and Israel, to respect the rules of international engagement.”

He, like Senator Wong, rolled out the Iranian regime’s laundry list when asked whether this is a “war of choice or a war of necessity”.

“Iran having a nuclear bomb is a massive threat. Let’s be realistic. This is a regime that is the biggest exporter of terror in the world,” he said.

“That has for decades, terrorised the Middle East, that has killed scores of Canadians — murdered scores of Canadians — tens of thousands of its own citizens (and) repressed women in its society.”

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday that her wasn’t going to get into a running commentary on Mr Trump’s tactics.

“I’m not going to get into commentary on the tactics. We very much welcome the action that has been taken,” he said.

“It is a regime that has been responsible for terrorist attacks on our soil, here in this country, and so it is a regime we should welcome the demise of.”

Liberal frontbencher and former SAS soldier Andrew Hastie declared the world order has entered a “new stage of history” in the wake of the US-Israel strikes on Iran.

The shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability labelled Mr Trump an “apex opportunist” after his recent action in Iran, as well as Nigeria and Venezuela.

“We’re in a new stage of history. After World War Two, it was the United States who built the international order, the international institutions – that’s why the United Nations is headquartered in New York – and I think that construct is defunct, in a sense,” he said on ABC radio on Wednesday.

“But we’ve also seen the rise of autocracies. China’s flexing its muscles, we’ve seen Russia invade Ukraine illegally and immorally, and Iran, of course, was sponsoring Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis in the Middle East.

“So, this is a very different stage of history. My concern is for our country and making sure that we’re resilient and self-sufficient.”

““If our shipping lines are cut, then our whole economy could grind to a halt very quickly, never mind the fact that our industrial base is also shrinking, and that makes us vulnerable to world events.”

Mr Hastie added that “middle powers absolutely have a role” in the diplomatic solutions for situations like the current Middle East conflict but cautioned that Australia’s capacity and strength was in decline.

“Middle powers are middle powers because they have a level of power. My concern is that Australia’s industrial power and military power is shrinking,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“You can’t just rely upon diplomatic power – they’re just words at the end of the day – you’ve got to back them up.”