Australia’s foreign minister has urged Iran to give up its nuclear program as fears grow its conflict with Israel will intensify into full-scale war.
As speculation grows the US is preparing to enter the fray, Penny Wong said Iran had a responsibility to negotiate for a deal to end the missile attacks against Israel.
“What we want to see is this situation resolved by Iran’s actions,” she said on Wednesday.
“Iran must come to the table.
“Iran must stop any nuclear program – that is the fastest way out of danger for the globe, for the region and for the Iranian people.”
More than 1000 Australians have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to be evacuated from Israel.
A further 870 Australians and their family members have requested help to leave Iran as missile strikes between the two countries intensify.
The barrage of attacks has hampered evacuation efforts because of air space being closed.
Senator Wong said Australia and other allies were urging Iran to shut down its nuclear programs.
“Ultimately, the Iranian regime has to make a decision about whether it is going to continue down a path that is so perilous,” she said.
“The world has been clear that any nuclear weapons program by Iran is a risk, a threat to global peace and security, as well as the security of the region.”
The conflict began on Friday after Israel moved to wipe out Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program.
US President Donald Trump met with his national security council on Wednesday morning, Australian time, after claiming he knew where Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was hiding.
The president has demanded Iran unconditionally surrender.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the federal government was closely monitoring Mr Trump’s statements.
“The US president has signalled that he wants a deal,” he said.
“There is broad international support for a return to dialogue and diplomacy.
“It’s a perilous place the Middle East right now. It’s a perilous time for the global economy.”
The situation in the Middle East has also caused great uncertainty for the Iranian community in Australia, which is watching the destruction from afar.
Atefeh, who fled Iran and sought asylum in Australia more than a decade ago, has been worried sick about her family and friends left in the capital Tehran.
Her niece has sent photos of rising smoke plumes taken from a window of their family home.
“We’re the only ones here, my husband and two kids, and we can’t do anything for them,” 40-year-old Atefeh, whose surname has been withheld out of concern for her family’s safety, told AAP.
“It’s so stressful, we don’t know what’s going to happen to them.
“It doesn’t matter where you live, downtown or elsewhere, government facilities are everywhere and they’re being attacked.”
One of her relatives survived an Israeli attack on a government building he worked in because he was on annual leave, she said.
Another relative is in the thick of the turmoil, working as a firefighter on the front line.
She and her husband are agonisingly close to receiving their Australian citizenship after spending years in immigration detention centres, followed by bridging visas and permanent protection visas.
The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified at least 585 deaths in Iran since the conflict began, while 24 people were reported killed in Israel.
It launched the air and missile bombardment after saying it had concluded that Iran, which has long threatened the Israeli state, was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.
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