‘Not party to the intelligence’: Albo avoids questions on legality of strikes which killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, condemns planned mourning

Anthony Albanese doubled down on his claim that the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “will not be mourned” in Australia, while avoiding questions about the legality of US attacks on Iran.

Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989, was killed along with other members of the Iranian leadership in US-Israeli military strikes in Tehran over the weekend.

The attacks plunged the Middle East into conflict and sent shockwaves through the international community; Iran was already retaliating by striking many Gulf countries.

Australia was one of the first countries to support the strikes, with the Prime Minister, Deputy Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong issuing a joint statement reiterating their support.

“We support the United States taking action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security,” the statement said.

Celebrations broke out following Khamenei’s death; The end of the brutal regime that oversaw state-sponsored terrorism, brutal crackdowns on protesters and bloodshed was welcomed.

But while US President Donald Trump has called on Iranians to “stand up” and “take control of your destiny”, questions remain about the legality of such attacks under international law.

Senator Wong has previously stated that it should be left to the US and Israel to explain the legality of such a thing, and has stated that Australia was not involved in any attack.

“Frankly, we are not party to the intelligence that both the US and the Israelis refer to in their decisions,” he said.

Therefore, it is up to them to explain the legal basis for this.”

“We support the steps taken to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.”

In the ABC’s report at 7.30 on Monday night, Mr Albanese largely echoed Senator Wong’s comments, while also avoiding questions about whether there were appropriate checks on Mr Trump’s authority.

Mr. Albanese said attacks on Gulf states, French forces stationed in Abu Dhabi and a British base in Cyprus had already taken place following Khamenei’s death.

“I think this is a regime that supports international terrorism, including in Australia,” he said.

Asked by host Sarah Ferguson about the legality of such attacks, Mr Albanese claimed the federal government did not have access to intelligence that the US and Israel had “before these attacks began”.

NED-14724-Iranian leaders were killed

“What we see in the latest joint statement by Britain, France and Germany is concern about the escalation of these attacks by Iran on the region, including from parties that are absolutely not part of this action against Iran,” he said.

Mr Albanese said Khamenei’s death “will not be mourned” and that Australia had a “clear position” in supporting “this action”.

“And now, of course, it is in the hands of the Iranian people to determine their own future,” he said.

“Of course I want their (Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards’) powers to be eliminated, because their powers are used not only for international actions, but also to oppress their own people.”

The Prime Minister also condemned public commemorations for the Ayatollah as “not appropriate”.

“I think people will overwhelmingly disagree,” he continued.

Ms Ferguson was joined by Israel’s new ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, who told the program that Israel had “fully justified” the action.

“We took action to eliminate two threats; the first is the nuclear issue, and the second is ballistic missiles,” Newman said.

“Iran was planning to create a stockpile of thousands of missiles and launch them at once. It is very difficult for a country to survive such an attack.”