Australia says it supports US strike on Iran, calls for de-escalation and return to talks

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong says that Canberra supports the US strike on Iran and calls for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.

“We support action that the US has taken to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Wong said in a television interview with Seven Sunrise.

In a series of television and radio interviews on Monday, Wong says the strike was a unilateral action by its security ally, the United States, and Australia is joining calls from Britain and other countries for Iran to return to the negotiating table.

“We do not want to see escalation,” she tells reporters in Canberra.

There are around 2,900 Australians in Iran and 1,300 in Iraq who are seeking to leave.

Australia has suspended bus evacuations from Israel after the US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but is making preparations for potential evacuations when air space in Israel re-opens, Wong says.

Australia says it has sent two defense planes to the Middle East in non-combat roles to assist civilian evacuations.