She mentioned that approximately 350 Australians in Iran and 300 in Israel have registered with the government for assistance to leave the region.
“I understand the concern and distress many Australians feel about the current events,” she stated from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade crisis center.
“I understand, particularly those who are in the Middle East, in Israel or Iran, how worrying this situation is, how frightening it is.Â
“And I also recognise, for families of people who are in the region this is a distressing time.”
She said the Australian government was looking at all contingencies and planning for assisted departures when safe.
“What I would say is, at the moment, airspace is closed,” she said.Â
“This means that governments have closed down airspace because of the risk of strikes on civilian aircraft.
“So obviously we have to wait until airspace is open before we can try to get people out by air.”
Meanwhile, Australians were advised to remain in place and heed the guidance from Australian and local authorities, as the foreign minister appealed to both Israel and Iran to exercise restraint.
“No one doubts the threat Iran poses. We have long been speaking about this as an international community. We have long put sanctions in place,” she said.
“We have, Australia has, been part of the pressure that has been applied to the Iranian regime in relation to their nuclear program and their non-proliferation obligations. So no one doubts that.Â
“The question is, what do you do about it? Is your response going to risk dire consequences for the region.Â
“Our call for diplomacy, for dialogue, for de-escalation, is the same call that is being made by the United Kingdom, by Canada, by France, by so many countries around the world, and it’s consistent with what President Trump has said.”
Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early on Monday, killing at least five people, while Israel claimed it had achieved air superiority over Tehran and could fly over the Iranian capital without facing major threats.
The Israeli military said it had destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total. It also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.
“At this time, we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies,” said military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin.Â
Israeli strikes “amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat”, he said.
Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure that have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday.
Israel said so far 24 people have been killed and more than 500 injured as Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones.
The latest conflict began when Israel launched an assault on Iran’s top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists that it said was necessary to prevent its long time adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs if it chooses to do so.
Iran has retaliated by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel. The back-and-forth has raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval.
– Reported with Associated Press
