Israel and the United States’ recent bombing of Iran, Israel’s genocide in Gaza, has further destabilised the Middle East region while .
NSW Greens Senator David Shoebridge, spokesperson for foreign affairs, peace and nuclear disarmament, defence and home affairs, told on June 26 the attacks on Iran were “outright illegal”, with “no evidence” that Iran is close to having nuclear weapons.
Iran did receive a from the over reporting obligation failures.
Shoebridge noted that the “IAEA has, on at least two occasions since this conflict escalated, made it very clear that they had that Iran was proceeding to build a nuclear bomb”.
“That was confirmed by evidence given to Congress … that there was no evidence Iran was proceeding to make a nuclear bomb,” he said, also adding that intelligence indicated “there had been a decision by the Iranian regime not to”.
“[The IAEA] was calling for negotiation and discussion. It pointed out how dangerous it would be if it led to an attack on nuclear facilities and strongly urged a peaceful dialogue,” Shoebridge said.
“All international evidence we had was that Iran … was not the imminent threat that Benjamin Netanyahu, Penny Wong and Donald Trump have said.”
and Israel has not signed the .
Shoebridge confirmed Israel and the US “used ‘imminent potential’ of an Iranian nuclear weapon … as the reason for their attack. It was an unlawful, illegal attack on Iran under international law,” he said, which fuels the call for an immediate two-way arms embargo against Israel, as well as sanctions against Netanyahu, his cabinet and key decision makers.
“We should tear up the $2 billion or so in contracts the Albanese government has, either directly or indirectly, with Israeli weapons manufacturers, Shoebridge said, if we want Israel to take sanctions seriously.
Concerns remain about the role Pine Gap plays in these attacks. The joint has always been controversial, and government secrecy about its role in unpopular foreign conflicts, the attacks on Iran included, makes it even more so.
Shoebridge said either the US has not informed Australia about Pine Gap’s role, which “is incredibly disturbing for a notionally joint Australian facility in the middle of our own country”, or governments “know exactly the role that Pine Gap [is playing] and they just don’t want the public to know”.
Concerns had about its role in drone attacks and assassinations in Iran and Syria and the potential to
Shoebridge is also concerned about the security ramifications of the increasingly unpopular AUKUS deal, saying the “least likely scenario is that it remains on track for five decades and we get six nuclear submarines out of it”.
“Australian taxpayers are [currently] building the United States a nuclear submarine attack base at the cost of $1.7 billion dollars on Garden Island in WA … to provide a forward base for American nuclear-powered , so that they can more readily engage in the United States containment program against China.”
What does Shoebridge make of the war on peaceful protest against genocide, war crimes and bottomless defence budgets?
“You would hope that the government was on the side of those millions of Australians who just want to end a genocide,” he said. “They see the images of kids being killed and whole communities being threatened with annihilation and hospitals, schools, universities being destroyed. They want it to end … and they’re out in the streets demanding that.
“Instead of seeing where the real violence lies, which is the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, the Anthony Albanese government and the NSW Chris Minns government have regularly tried to make out that the peaceful protesters, the people trying to call for an end to the genocide, are the problem.”