In her statements this morning on Today, Wong indicated that the United States specifically targeted locations pertinent to Iran’s nuclear activities.
“We support action to prevent Iran getting a nuclear weapon,” Wong said.
“We are aware of the UN nuclear watchdog’s reports … indicating that Iran is refining uranium to near-military grade levels … sufficient for producing multiple nuclear arms.”
Wong also noted the difficult situation of thousands of Australians who remain stranded in both Israel and Iran, affirming that Australia continues its efforts to assist in their evacuation.
“Obviously, this is a highly risky and precarious situation, and my heart goes out to Australians in Iran and in Israel, and to their friends and families in Australia who are so deeply worried about them,” Wong said.
The security situation in Israel meant land crossing were not possible, but the government was working on trying to arrange contingency flights, Wong said.
“There are reports … of airspace opening for Israel for a limited period. We are working on contingency arrangements to see if we can get a flight in to collect people, and we have notified people on the ground about that.”
The situation in Iran was even worse and more serious, Wong said.
We obviously have had to make the difficult decision to close our embassy,” she said.
There was a possibility that Australian officials may be able to provide some assistance to Australians who were able to make it to the Azerbaijani border, Wong said.
