New Zealand wants justification for US bombings in Iran
Anxious leaders in New Zealand are not supporting, yet not criticising, the United States' strikes on Iran as it seeks a justification of the raids.
Donald Trump's administration entered the spiralling Israel-Iran conflict on Sunday (AEST) with bombing raids on three facilities.
Ahead of the operation, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon said the right response "cannot be more military action", and after the attacks, he said his position remained the same.
"We want to see a peaceful secure and stable Middle East. The way to get there is a political solution rather than military action ... it's through dialogue and diplomacy," he told Radio NZ.
New Zealand, like Australia and the US, is steadfast that Iran cannot be allowed to establish a nuclear arsenal.
However, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that did not extend automatically to support for the US strikes as that would only be "justified by the level of nuclear preparedness by Iran".
"We'd be very wise to keep our counsel and find out the facts, get a proper analysis and ensure that what we're talking about is true," he told Newstalk ZB.
Mr Peters, in his third stint as foreign minister in a political career lasting half a century, said the "level of inflection we're talking about, potentially" was akin to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
"The worst thing about a crisis is what you see is not always what you get," he told Radio NZ.
"It could be far, far, far, far worse and that's the tragedy we might face, we just don't know."
Defence Minister Judith Collins has sent a Hercules aircraft under NZDF command to the region to help airlift citizens in the war zone.
New Zealand already has dozens of military personnel engaged in the region, and deployed a small group to assist as part of a US-led coalition to stop Houthi strikes on international shipping in the Red Sea.
Both Mr Peters and Mr Luxon, in Europe this week for a NATO summit, have previously spoken of New Zealand's concern of a world where the rules-based system is "giving way to power".
"A return to a world where raw power is the primary determinant in advancing states' interests would be a harsh world indeed," Mr Luxon told the Lowy Institute in Sydney in 2024.
In Belgium on Monday (AEST), Mr Luxon said he wanted conflicts resolved through negotiation.
"New Zealand doesn't want to see a nuclear-armed Iran destabilising its neighbours," Mr Luxon said.
"We don't want to see Gaza under Israeli occupation.
"We don't want to see Hamas holding onto hostages.
"The answer in all of those cases, in all of the conflicts in the Middle East, is dialogue and diplomacy not military action."
New Zealand also announced a fresh contribution to Ukraine's defence on Monday, offering $NZ16 million ($A15 million) in its war against Russia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
41 minutes ago
- ABC News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's problems not going away after Iran war
Deep in the throes of battle with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare public appearance at a falafel stand near a missile impact site just south of Tel Aviv. It's something seldom seen outside of election campaigns. Supporters lined the streets to get a glimpse of their leader, and as he appeared, they started chanting: "Bibi; King of Israel." It stood in stark contrast to the months of public vitriol Netanyahu copped from millions of Israeli citizens, who'd been frustrated with the country's lingering war in Gaza and the fact 50 hostages remained there. For a moment, it appeared the PM's popularity was about to surge. As soon as Israel launched its air strikes on Iran, there was overwhelming support for the attack amongst Jewish Israelis and bipartisan backing across the political divide. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute found 82 per cent of Jewish Israelis supported the attack on Iran. On the streets, Israelis were quick to explain why they backed the attack. They highlighted the Iranian regime's stated desire to destroy Israel, and how they viewed the strikes as a turning point in their country's history. There was also a sense that Israel was taking on Iran on behalf of the world — that they were doing something their allies could not, or would not, do. "This is a time of miracles and we will win," one Israeli told me. Another was more direct, saying: "We will f*** the bastards and, after that, no-one will think about starting even a small thing with Israel." During the war with Iran, Netanyahu has been on the optics front line, making several appearances at missile impact sites in Tel Aviv and at a hospital struck in the country's south, reiterating his message that launching the attack has been for Israel's greater good. Few people from the political echelon, and elsewhere around the country, spoke out against him. And now the war is over, Israelis I've spoken with still seem to believe the short-lived conflict was necessary, and they achieved massive successes in cutting down a regime that'd presented an existential threat for decades. Among all the encouragement and praise for the war amongst the Israeli public, you could be forgiven for thinking the same wave of support would flow through to "King Bibi". But Israeli politics is rarely that simple. Instead, polling released during and after the war suggests the country's left and right-wing voter base hasn't really shifted in its views. Netanyahu's Likud Party has received a modest bump, but at the expense of other groups within his ruling coalition. It means, if an election were held in Israel today, it's likely Mr Netanyahu would struggle to form government, which would end his reign. Netanyahu might be Israel's longest-serving leader in history, but his coalition is tenuous — held together by six separate political parties, some of which routinely threaten to pull the pin on their support if they don't agree with his policies, including how to end the war in Gaza. So why hasn't the perceived success of the Iranian attack extended as praise for the prime minister behind it? The Netanyahu camp could have believed Operation Rising Lion — as it was officially named — would erase painful and controversial memories for Israelis, including the security failures of October 7 and the ongoing war in Gaza, where 50 hostages remain held captive, including at least 20 known to be alive. While Netanyahu's assault on Iran is considered locally impressive, and the victories made remarkable, the prime minister is facing a major problem. On Saturday night, protesters were back on the streets in Tel Aviv, gathering in anger over what they described as a "festering wound" for Netanyahu. They're talking about the fact there's no ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war. That ongoing campaign, in which it is estimated by Gazan health authorities that more than 50,000 Palestinians in the besieged territory have been killed, is becoming increasingly unpopular in Israel, particularly because of the plight of the hostages — some of whom are alive, some of whom are not. Polling released in March by Israel's popular Channel 12 found 69 per cent of Israelis supported ending the Gaza war in return for an agreement which saw all hostages released. Even among voters of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, 54 per cent backed that equation. As one Israeli put it to me: "Bibi might have thought another war would distract us from Gaza, but we haven't forgotten the hostages." Until that wound is closed, it's likely Netanyahu's approval, and chances of re-election next year, will continue to dissolve.
Herald Sun
3 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Peta Credlin: Australia will lose US security blanket without Albo increasing military spending
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Forget help from the US marines rotating through Darwin, forget intelligence from the joint Space Facility at Pine Gap, and certainly forget the promised delivery of Virginia-class nuclear subs. If we don't lift military spending to the 3.5 per cent of GDP, that the Trump administration demands as a minimum of all US allies, we can still expect to be a potential target but we can't expect any help to defend Australia. Put yourself in US shoes for a moment. Why should their sons and daughters put their lives on the line to defend Australia when we're refusing to help ourselves? And, whatever you think about their patriotism, which tends to be more demonstrative than ours, at least they're less at risk of raising a whole generation of young people who are taught to hate their history, their flag and their country as we are here. After years of increasingly strident badgering, America's NATO allies have just agreed to lift their military spending to 3.5 per cent and to lift all defence-related spending to 5 per cent of GDP. This was in response to President Donald Trump's expressed reluctance to commit to NATO's 'one-in, all-in' Article 5 security guarantee. Partly, this was to placate an unpredictable and transactional president. And partly, it's apprehension that an America that's tired of being the world's policeman might just leave them in the lurch should Russia broaden its aggression after finishing off Ukraine. But if this is how Trump treats France, a nuclear power; and Germany, Europe's economic titan, how do we think he would treat us? Especially as the Albanese government has shown zero willingness to offer the military help that the US thinks it has a right to expect and that Australia has always given in the past. It's almost impossible to overstate the extent to which the Albanese government has misread the signals out of Washington and the strategic isolation to which we are now exposed. Turning down the December 2023 request to send a frigate to the Red Sea was perhaps the Albanese government's most egregious mistake. It was first time Australia had refused an American request for military help since the ANZUS treaty in 1951. Naturally, it was almost unnoticed here but it was seismic in a Washington. It was, after all, the Hawke government that sent clearance divers to help the US-led liberation of Kuwait; the Howard government that sent special forces, strike planes and a frigate to help the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein; plus special forces, a mentoring task force and a reconstruction team to help the US-led campaign against the Taliban; a military effort that the Rudd and Gillard governments amply continued; and the Abbott government that sent special forces, strike planes and military trainers to help the US-led campaign against Islamic State. Not only has the Albanese government ostentatiously declined to give credible military help; it's consistently voted against the US at the UN on Israel; it's appeased China on trade; and it took 24 hours before it tepidly and half-heartedly backed last weekend's attack on Iran's nuclear weapons facility. But the fundamental problem is the Albanese government's repeated and obstinate refusal to entertain any increase at all in Australia's military spending. The Prime Minister was at it again on Friday, blathering that taking a decade to lift defence spending to 2.3 per cent is sacrosanct because 'we put forward our budget, we took it to an election and received overwhelming support'. As JM Keynes famously said: 'When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?' And the facts have changed, as even the UK Labour government has recognised. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in every other respect our PM's green-left ideological soulmate, rushed to Washington in February and pledged to lift British defence spending to 2.7 per cent now and 3.5 per cent by the early 2030s. Sooner or later, Albanese won't be able to keep shirking a face-to-face meeting with the leader of the free world – despite a personal distaste for Trump that's becoming only-too-obvious. When a Labor frontbencher in 2017, he said of the then first-term president: 'He scares the shit out of me'; and plainly he meant it. Eventually, he'll have to face up to a meeting with our main ally but is almost certain to get an Oval Office blast in the absence of the defence boost that's so plainly needed. And, yes, we do need to get much better value for our defence dollar too, noting that Australia spends more on defence than Israel but has nothing remotely approaching the Israeli armed forces' capabilities. Without a swift boost to military spending and capability, the charge that will haunt this PM is that he would prefer us to be an economic colony of China than a military ally of the United States. THUMBS UP B-2 bomber pilots – With two pilots per aircraft, in a single mission last Sunday, these brave Americans made the world safer and deserve our heartfelt gratitude. THUMBS DOWN Jacinta Allan – Victorian Labor's new draft laws to fine farmers $12,000-plus if they refuse to allow new transmission lines on their land are criminal. This is what Net Zero really means! Watch Peta on Credlin on Sky News, weeknights at 6pm Originally published as Peta Credlin: Australia will lose US security blanket without Albo increasing military spending
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Iran holds funeral for military commanders and scientists killed in Israel war
Hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined the streets of downtown Tehran for the funeral of the head of the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), as well as other top commanders and nuclear scientists killed during Iran's 12-day war with Israel. The caskets of IRGC chief General Hossein Salami and the head of the group's ballistic missile program, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were among a group of caskets driven on trucks along Azadi Street on Saturday as people in the crowd chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". Salami and Hajizadeh were both killed on the first day of the war, June 13, as Israel launched strikes it said were intended to destroy Iran's nuclear program. State media reported more than 1 million people turned out for the funeral procession, a number that could not be independently confirmed. However, the dense crowd packed the main Tehran thoroughfare along the entire 4.5-kilometre route. There was no immediate sign of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the state broadcast of the funeral. Khamenei, who has not made a public appearance since before the outbreak of the war, has in the past held prayers for fallen commanders over their caskets before the open ceremonies, later aired on state television. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on hand, and state television reported that General Esmail Qaani, who heads the foreign wing of the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and General Ali Shamkhani were also among the mourners. Shamkhani, an adviser to Khamenei who was wounded in the first round of Israel's attack and hospitalised, was shown in a civilian suit leaning on a cane in an image distributed on state television's Telegram channel. Over 12 days before a ceasefire was declared on Tuesday, Israel claimed it killed about 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 civilians, according to a Washington-based human rights group. Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. Saturday's ceremonies were the first public funerals for top commanders since the ceasefire, and Iranian state television reported that they were for 60 people in total, including four women and four children. Khamenei's last public appearance was made on June 11, two days before hostilities with Israel broke out, when he met with Iranian parliamentarians. On Thursday, however, he released a pre-recorded video in his first message since the end of the war, filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic's longtime adversaries. The 86-year-old claimed victory over Israel, and downplayed US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites as having not achieved "anything significant". The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, has characterised the damage done by American bunker-buster bombs to Iran's Fordow nuclear site, which was built into a mountain, as "very, very, very considerable". AP
