Israel urges Australia to toughen Iran policy after missile and drone attack.
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The Israeli ambassador in Canberra has called for "extreme measures" in response to Tehran's missile and drone attacks over the weekend, and he may push Australia to declare Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation.
Israeli diplomats are requesting that the Albanese government take into account imposing diplomatic penalties and sanctions on Iran and any organisations that provide, fund, or train the IRGC. Iran's attack on Israel, which did not result in significant damage, was described as "unprecedented" and posed a risk of a "wide-scale regional conflict" by embassy officials in Canberra.
During the briefing on Monday in Canberra, Chris Cantor, the Deputy Head of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Australia, stated that Israel "keeps its right to self-defence" but he would not comment on whether Israel would take further military action in response to the strikes.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed they had already taken decisive action.
Well, we have taken strong action and we don't announce action during radio interviews. We have implemented Magnitsky-style sanctions on 85 individuals and 97 entities from Iran. We also, it must be said, I'm very concerned as well about Iran’s, as someone who cares about human rights, Iran's use of police to arrest women for inappropriate dress, as it’s seen, is an extraordinary violation of the human rights of its own citizens and is a cause of much distress for the Iranian population there. But I know a source of distress for the Iranian diaspora who are here in Australia as well.
Additionally, Mr. Albanese rejected Iran's argument that the attack was a response to the bombing of the Syrian embassy.
I dismiss any of Iran's so-called justifications here. This was an aggressive act of hundreds of drones and missiles which would have, had that been more successful, had a devastating impact on the Israeli population, innocent civilians, just as the work of their proxies through Hamas, led to the brutal murder of Israeli citizens who were going about their business, many of whom were attending a concert in southern Israel and a dance party. Iran's actions continue to be irresponsible and place itself in a position where it's quite rightly condemned by nations that are concerned about the rule of law and concerned about human rights issues.
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