As the conflict in the Middle East broadened, US President Donald Trump outlined again why the action against Iran — the “number one state sponsor of terror” — was taken.
“We are the world’s greatest and most powerful nation, so we can do something about what they do,” he said on Monday. “This is the duty and burden of a free people”.
To his credit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s initial reaction to the joint US-Israeli strike was supportive. This was a welcome change from his slowness to back the audacious US mission to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities in June — and the tepid endorsement he gave then.
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That came amid the policy myopia which had left the Albanese Government’s moral compass broken as anti-Semitism exploded in this country.
But in August Australia’s intelligence agencies presented the Government with evidence that Iran was behind at least two terror attacks on Australian soil, disguised as criminal anti-Semitic firebombings, including the attack on the Adass Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024.
The Government expelled Iran’s ambassador, recalled Australian diplomats and listed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
This time around Mr Albanese added to his support the comment that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the first attacks, “won’t be mourned”.
But even as members of Australia’s Iranian diaspora danced with joy in cities across the country, the Greens and the regular rent-a-protest crowd found reason to be critical.
Their opposition was entirely unsurprising. More troubling was that a number of mosques and Islamic community centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane published obituaries and invited members to honour Khamenei’s “martyrdom”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, often a voice of clarity, condemned the mourning events. “The ayatollah was evil, and I don’t think we should be mincing words about this.
The truth of the matter is, weeks ago he and his regime were responsible for killing 30,000 protesters (in Iran) . . . for simply demonstrating against the regime and their practices,” Mr Minns said.
His stance highlights another important point. Where were the voices of condemnation, the angry street marches of protest here when the Iranian regime was slaughtering its own people? The double standards are staggering.
On Monday as the war widened thousands of Australians were likely to be stranded in the Middle East, and uncertainty grew about the share market and petrol prices.
And in a tangible sign of this country’s entanglement, the Al Minhad Airbase outside Dubai — used by Australian forces in the Middle East — was reportedly hit by Iranian missile strikes over the weekend, with Defence Minister Richard Marles insisting on Monday that all military personnel in the area were safe and accounted for.
The dangers are real. Mr Albanese must maintain his resolve. The die is cast. This is a fight the US and its allies must win.
