Anthony Albanese to meet with security leaders as Iran war worsens

Anthony Albanese is due to meet with security leaders in Canberra as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to widen.

NewsWire understands Mr Albanese will hold a National Security Committee meeting to discuss further steps on Monday.

It comes as foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien says the Coalition is open to extending bipartisan support for Australia to participate in the Middle East conflict in a defensive capacity if the move is in the national interest.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong revealed on Sunday that Australia had been asked to provide assistance by unnamed Gulf countries that had been attacked by Iran.

She confirmed the help could come in the form of military assistance but said the request was being considered in line with the government’s position of not participating in “offensive action” against Iran.

Senator Wong also ruled out ground deployment of Australian troops into the region.

The Coalition has since sought a briefing from the government on the matter to determine whether the move would be one it supported, Mr O’Brien said on Monday.

“We certainly have a very proud history as a country in working closely with our allies and partners, especially at times of crisis,” he told the ABC.

“We have sought a briefing from the government and will consider what sort of deployment of assets or resources they are considering.

“And we’ll be making that consideration, of course, in the national interest … if it’s in our national interest, I believe they’ll have bipartisan support.”

Mr O’Brien also shrugged off concerns that Labor should focus its defensive resources in the Indo-Pacific instead of the Middle East.

“Well, there’s no doubt that our primary focus should always be on our own backyard, in particular the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“However, there is conflict going on right now in the Middle East, and this is where we’re talking about a very rogue regime which has perpetrated Australia.

“It has sought to undertake terror attacks on our soil and far worse attacks on some of our friends and allies.

“We support what the United States and Israel is doing, and therefore, if support is requested, as it has been, it should be duly considered.”

Ex-PM rages over Aussie role in Iran

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has slammed the Albanese government over a failure to meaningfully involve itself in United States’ and Israel’s war on Iran, warning all there will be is “a few tepid words”.

In a lengthy op-ed, the former Liberal leader said Australia had been involved in every major military action launched by the United States’ since World War II, including the wars in Vietnam and Korea.

When it came to Iran, however, Mr Abbott said “the most significant thing about the US attack is that we (Australia) have not been involved in the slightest”.

“We are not America’s most important ally but we have been its most dependable one,” he said, noting Australia’s involvement in action targeting the Islamic State group since 2014.

“Yet in all probability, a few tepid words will be Australia’s sole part in the current action against a regime so evil that it routinely slaughters tens of thousands of its own citizens,” he said.

Mr Abbott criticised calls from Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong for de-escalation, writing: “As if decapitating the Islamist tyranny and severely weakening its ability to export terrorism (even if full regime change might not be achieved) was not unambiguously good for the wider world.”

Australian involvement a ‘good thing’

Former Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey said it would be a “good thing” if Australia aided the war effort.

The ex-Coalition treasurer said Australia had “significant military expertise” and predicted any involvement “would be partly about surveillance” and “early warning”.

“There is no doubt a lot of Middle Eastern states are looking for allies and friends at this moment,” he told Sky News.

“And frankly, I think it’d be a good thing for us to be there.”

Mr Hockey, who now heads a Washington-based advisory firm, also said the conversation in the US capital was shifting towards “boots on the ground”.

“That is the expectation at the moment,” he said, adding that it was broadly agreed that troops were needed “to have regime change”.

“There is no doubt that Israel is determined to have regime change in Iran,” Mr Hockey said.

“For the United States, I don’t think Donald Trump has been particularly committed to regime change as much as he has been committed to removing the threat of nuclear weapons and the capacity of Iran to do damage to US military bases and the US mainland.”

Mr Hockey said despite the apparent differences of their goals, it was “quite obvious that Israel and the United States are working very closely” and he “wouldn’t be surprised if, by the end of next week, we see some American boots on the ground”.

“It is extremely sensitive for Israel to have boots on the ground in Iran, but there may be some room for very limited engagement by the United States on the ground,” he said.