rss-bridge 2026-03-01T07:26:04+00:00

Supporting ‘illegal aggression’ against Iran ‘the worst thing’ Australia could do, international law experts say

Ben Saul says ‘rolling over’ after Israel and US attack is counterproductive for middle powers because it undermines rules-based orderIranian Australians celebrate death of supreme leader and dream of regime changeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInternational law experts have criticised Australia for “rolling over” and backing what they say is an illegal attack by Israel and the US on Iran.The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, endorsed the fresh war by stating that “Australia supports action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security”. Continue reading...

[Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese say ‘Australia supports action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon’.]

Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese say ‘Australia supports action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon’. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/AFP/Getty Images

Supporting ‘illegal aggression’ against Iran ‘the worst thing’ Australia could do, international law experts say

Ben Saul says ‘rolling over’ after Israel and US attack is counterproductive for middle powers because it undermines rules-based order

Iranian Australians celebrate death of supreme leader and dream of regime change

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

International law experts have criticised Australia for “rolling over” and backing what they say is an illegal attack by Israel and the US on Iran.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, endorsed the fresh war by stating that “Australia supports action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security”.

Wong and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, also cited attacks in Melbourne and Sydney in 2024, allegedly orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, when they endorsed the bombing raids ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.

Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador and designated the IRCG a state sponsor of terrorism over the 2024 antisemitic attacks that included the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue.

But University of Sydney professor and United Nations special rapporteur Ben Saul said that justification was flawed.

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The attack on Iran was “clearly a violation of the ban on the use of force under the UN charter and international law, which is the linchpin of the international order since 1945,” he told Guardian Australia on Sunday.

“Domestic criminal acts like the IRGC’s interference here, of course, are not armed attacks which would somehow justify military self-defence against Iran.

“You may not like Iran, you may not like what it does, but that doesn’t justify an aggressive armed attack on Iran.”

Saul said countries like Australia and Canada should be pushing the US to respect international law.

“It’s difficult to stop a superpower, but if middle powers and other coalitions of states raise the political price on the United States by objecting strenuously every time they break the law, it does make it a lot harder for the US to get away with it in future cases.

“When countries like Australia roll over and support this kind of illegal aggression, that’s the worst thing, in terms of contributing to the erosion of international law.”

Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law at the Australian National University, said the weekend attack on Iran was not justified based on publicly available information.

“There is no basis under the UN charter with respect to the exercise of the right of self-defence, nor is there any UN security council resolution authorising any use of force for an intervention in Iran,” he said on Sunday.

“I can understand why the government is being cautious on these matters at the moment, just 24 hours after the event. But in due course, Australia will need to give a clearer statement of its views.”

Wong on Sunday said: “I will leave it for the United States and Israel to speak of the legal basis for the attacks.”

“What I would say to Australians is that Iran has been a destabilising force in the region for decades. It has orchestrated attacks on Australia, and I think we all understand this issue did not start yesterday.”

The Greens’ foreign affairs spokesperson, David Shoebridge, accused the Albanese government of outsourcing Australian foreign policy to Washington.

“Labor has made Australia a part of this war by allowing Pine Gap and other US military bases here to be used to gather intelligence and target US bombs and missiles,” he said.

“People see through Labor when it says it believes in international law and then repeatedly backs the US and its illegal wars.”

Wong on Sunday wouldn’t be drawn on the involvement of Pine Gap in the Northern Territory, stating: “We never comment on that facility as a general proposition.”

Asked on Sunday if the attack was legal and whether it could further erode the rules-based order, Albanese said the questions were for the US and those involved directly in the attack.

“What I would say is that the threat to international peace and security of the Iranian regime is real. The fact that they orchestrated attacks here in Australia on the other side of the world underlines the threat that this regime presented to the rule of law and to international norms of behaviour.”

Albanese said Australia had “long recognised” that Iran’s nuclear program and the development of ballistic missiles were a threat to global peace and security.

The Australian government made similar comments when backing Trump’s June 2025 bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities during the 12-day war.

At the time, Trump said the US had successfully struck three nuclear sites in Iran, and key enrichment facilities were “totally and completely obliterated”.

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Members of the Labor Against War group on Sunday lashed the federal government for supporting Netanyahu and Trump.

“Albanese’s backing of Israeli and US attacks on Iran shows that we are completely devoid of acting independently,” patron Doug Cameron said.

“There was a time when Labor pursued peace not war. That time is long gone. Leadership needed, not sycophantic capitulation to militarism.”

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*Original source*