Prime Minister Christopher Luxon states that New Zealand’s position on the US and Israeli strikes on Iran aligns with Australia’s.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that his government backs the United States’ actions to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
When asked if New Zealand supported the attacks, Luxon repeatedly avoided the word but condemned the Iranian regime as evil for claiming countless lives.
“We think Iran has been repressing its own people,” Luxon said.
“We think it’s been arming proxies and terrorist organisations. We think it has been developing its ballistic and nuclear programmes, and years of diplomacy haven’t actually paid any fruits.”
“We understand fully why the Americans and Israelis have undertaken the independent action that they have taken to make sure Iran can’t threaten people.”
When questioned on the legal justification for the strikes, Luxon replied that the US and Israel must provide the legal rationale for their attacks.
“Iran has been a destabilising force. It has supported armed proxies throughout the region. It has seen tens of thousands of people murdered by own government, who were asking for freedom and rights.”
Prime Minister Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters recently stated that New Zealand consistently condemns Iran’s nuclear programme and its “destabilising activities” across the region while acknowledging the strikes.
“Iran has, for decades, defied the will and expectations of the international community. The legitimacy of a government rests on the support of its people. The Iranian regime has long since lost that support.”
“In this context, we acknowledge that the actions taken overnight by the US and Israel were designed to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security.”
“We call for a resumption of negotiations and adherence to international law.”
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark branded the government’s statement a disgrace.
“What was wrong with it was it didn’t call out the illegal strike against Iran in the middle of diplomatic negotiations, which were going quite well, and further talks were scheduled.”
“The whole point of international law is to put rules around when force is legitimate,” she said.
“A strike is justified if there is an imminent threat of attack, which clearly there was not.”
She stated that the initial US and Israeli strikes breached international law.
“The New Zealand government seems only interested in the Iranian retaliation and not looking at the reason for the retaliation, which was the attack by the United States and Israel,” Clark said.
“I think it’s consistent with a steady drift in New Zealand foreign policy to realign strongly with the United States, which at this particular time seems even more questionable as a strategy.”