Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles has stood by Australia’s early support for the US intervention in Iran as the conflict nears the month-long mark, while urging a de-escalation.
“We support efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability, and we very much condemn Iran in terms of the way in which it’s treated its own citizens,” Marles told reporters in Canberra.
“Australia’s national interest lies in the defence of the Gulf states, and that’s the interest that we are pursuing,” he said, adding “we very much support efforts to achieve a peace”.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius during a joint press conference following the Defence Ministers’ meeting at Parliament House this morning.Alex Ellinghausen
The defence minister’s visiting German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, speaking alongside Marles in Canberra, was more critical.
“This war is a catastrophe for the world’s economies. The impact is absolutely evident already. Now, after a little bit more than two weeks, the closure of the Hormuz Strait has an impact for all the region in the Indo-Pacific,” Pistorius said.
“It’s not [Germany’s] war, and therefore we don’t want to get sucked into that war … and what we need is now a diplomatic solution, as soon as possible.”