Three Australians were onboard US submarine that sank Iranian warship, PM says | Australian military

Anthony Albanese has confirmed three Australians were on board the US submarine that sank an Iranian warship after the Labor government refused to comment on the reports emerging on Thursday.

The Prime Minister said Australian defense force personnel were on the submarine as part of the Aukus training programme.

But he maintained that Australian forces acted in accordance with international law, saying: “No Australian personnel participated in any acts of aggression against Iran.”

Asked about the international law implications of US and Israeli attacks on Iran, Albanese said he was “comfortable” with Australia’s assessment that Tehran posed three levels of threat.

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“Normally we would not approve such a matter but given our NSC [national security committee of cabinet] “The meetings, in the public interest, I can confirm that there were three Australian personnel on that ship,” Albanese told Sky News Australia on Friday.

“But I can also confirm that no Australian personnel have been involved in any offensive action against Iran. These are third country regulations that have been in place for a long time. And what they do is ensure that Australian defense force personnel where they are involved in third countries’ defense assets act in accordance with Australian law and Australian policy.”

The Australian government has previously refused to say whether Australian sailors or officers were aboard the US attack submarine that torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, killing at least 87 people.

On Friday morning, senior ministers initially refused to confirm these details, saying the government had a policy of not commenting on the whereabouts of ADF personnel.

Albanese said the three Australians on the submarine were there as part of the Aukus defense pact training program.

“One of the big pluses behind the Aukus regulations is that Australian personnel gain experience in a variety of assets, including being involved in nuclear-powered submarines, as well as the overall change that takes place.”

more than that 50 Australian sailors and officers They serve in the US attack submarine fleet, a training regime that is part of preparations for Australia to command its own nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus treaty.

According to the Royal Australian Navy, one in 10 crew The ship in US Navy attack submarines is Australian.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at a briefing at the Pentagon that the US submarine attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran Ship (Iris) Dena was the first time an enemy ship was sunk by an American torpedo since the Second World War.

“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death.”

Hegseth promised “total destruction” to the Iranian regime.

“America is winning decisively, devastatingly and ruthlessly… they are fried and they know it,” he said.

The Pentagon has not determined which submarine was involved in Wednesday’s attack, but the defense trade press reported: The submarine that launched the torpedo was USS MinnesotaA Virginia-class submarine that returned to HMAS Stirling base in Western Australia last year.

Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called the US attack “an atrocity committed at sea, 2,000 miles from the Iranian coast.”

“Mark my words: The United States will bitterly regret the precedent it has set.”

At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack on the Iris Dena on Wednesday. 32 people were pulled from the water by the Sri Lankan navy. Up to 180 personnel were believed to be on board.

The frigate was sailing in international waters while returning from a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal.

A Pentagon video purportedly recording the attack shows the warship being hit by a massive explosion, shattering the ship’s stern and lifting it out of the water before it began to sink.

The frigate was outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters but still within its economic zone, 44 nautical miles (81 km) from Galle.