Anthony Albanese has welcomed a two-week ceasefire deal between the US and Iran that is set to temporarily reopen the strait of Hormuz, as he issued a rare criticism of Donald Trump for threatening a \u201cwhole civilization will die\u201d.<\/p>\n
The prime minister said news of the conditional ceasefire was \u201cvery positive\u201d and was hopeful it would lead to the permanent end to a conflict that has sent global fuel prices soaring.<\/p>\n
The announcement of the ceasefire agreement on Wednesday (Australian time) was made less than two hours before Trump\u2019s self-imposed deadline<\/a> for Iran to surrender or face widespread destruction, including the bombing of bridges and power plants.<\/p>\n The US president had earlier posted on his Truth Social platform: \u201cA whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don\u2019t want that to happen, but it probably will.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n In an interview with Sky News, Albanese said threatening to destroy civilian infrastructure was an \u201cextraordinary statement to make\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s appropriate to use language such as that from the president of the United States. And I think it will cause some concern, which is there,\u201d the prime minister said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve said very clearly that the conduct of any conflict must be within international law and that provides for making sure that civilians \u2013 who aren\u2019t parties to the conflict \u2013 are given every protection possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Albanese would not be drawn on whether the bombing of civilian infrastructure would constitute a war crime, which is the view of legal experts and officials from numerous countries.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s long step between a tweet and that suggestion. What we have called for is a de-escalation, and that is what has occurred, and that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, was earlier urging Albanese to make clear to the US that Australia wouldn\u2019t support Trump\u2019s threat of widespread bombings.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s incumbent on us to implore our friends in the United States to de-escalate this and de-escalate it fast. It\u2019s gotten out of hand very quickly,\u201d Canavan told RN Breakfast.<\/p>\n The prime minister has avoided criticising or even weighing into Trump\u2019s increasingly inflammatory language, including on Monday when the president issued an expletive-laden threat<\/a> in which he demanded Iran \u201cOpen the Fuckin\u2019 Strait\u201dof Hormuz.<\/p>\n Albanese has also declined to respond to Trump\u2019s repeated criticisms of Australia for not directly assisting the war effort, although the prime minister has been more forthright in the past week in questioning the objectives of the operation.<\/p>\n The two-week ceasefire period, which was agreed after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan, is designed to buy time to negotiate a permanent resolution to the conflict.<\/p>\n