New polling by the Sydney Morning Herald on March 19 shows most people — 61% — oppose the Iran war, with only 13% in favour. Just 29% endorsed Labor’s support for the United States-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW) accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on March 11 of seeking to “minimise and sanitise” Australia’s involvement, “just as John Howard did with Iraq and Afghanistan”. The distinction between ground forces and other forms of involvement is “misleading”, MAPW said.
“In modern warfare, intelligence sharing, surveillance, logistics and interoperability between allied forces are central, not peripheral, to war-fighting.”
MAPW said it was “gravely concerned” by the country’s increasing participation in a war without legal basis or legitimate objectives, “instigated by self-interested US and Israeli military actions”.
Australia was the first country to give “unqualified support” to the illegal military strikes against Iran, despite there being no “legal grounds or coherent goals”. Australian Defence Force (ADF) equipment and personnel have since been sent to the United Arab Emirates, ostensibly for “defensive” action.
MAPW pointed out that no details had been given for this exercise in “collective self-defence”, meaning that Australia is possibly under US command. But regardless, it said ADF personnel in the UAE will be “combatants under international law and Australia is now a party to this conflict”.
The US attack on a girl’s school in Iran and the toxic black rain that follows bombed oil facilities shows the costs are mounting, MAPW said.
It said crimes committed against the Iranian people by their own leaders “cannot justify further crimes against them by our allies”. For the security of civilians in the Middle East, it said there must be a “negotiated peace”.
“By backing the initial strikes on Iran, Australia has undermined multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament, as well as the established rules of war that protect everyone. By choosing to engage further in a war with no legitimate cause or aims, and no clear path to resolution, Australia is repeating the terrible mistakes of the past.”
MAPW President Sue Wareham wrote in Pearls and Irritations on March 19 that regime change does not deliver human rights and “Iranians must determine their own future”.
She also pointed the hypocrisy behind the rhetoric being used to justify war. “So much of this war is driven by double standards and contradictions, including on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.
“The United States possesses more than 5000 nuclear weapons and Israel — the only nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East — around 90. Both states have consistently resisted good faith efforts for a Middle East Nuclear Weapons Free Zone under the NPT [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] framework.”
Wareham said the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action had “successfully constrained” Iran’s nuclear program through strict verification but was abandoned unilaterally by US President Donald Trump in 2018.
“We’re told, for good reason, that Iran must not develop highly-enriched uranium (HEU) because it’s nuclear weapons fuel. And yet HEU is the very fuel that will be powering the AUKUS submarines if they ever eventuate.”
Wareham said after AUKUS was announced in September 2021, many warned (for example here and here) it would set a dangerous precedent. “Iran has cited interest in nuclear-powered submarines as a justification for its HEU program. Yet again, Australia’s position is a matter of ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.”
She said Australia’s support for a war with “no legitimate cause or aims” is a repeat of terrible mistakes and sets back the cause of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on March 16 the escalation of war in the Middle East risks “widening an already volatile regional conflict” that will “ultimately be borne by ordinary people”.
The NTEU said while it condemns Iran’s violation of basic human rights and fundamental political freedoms, these do not justify the US and Israel’s attacks.
The union pointed to a statement by the international global federation of education, Education International, which condemned the attacks on schools and education communities.
“Schools, universities, students and education workers must never be targets of military action.”
The NTEU called for international law to be upheld, saying Australia’s support for and endorsement of military actions violate such laws and “contribute to a wider regional war”.
The union also reiterated that it opposed the militarisation of higher education, “including through AUKUS and related defence arrangements that increasingly tie Australian universities and research priorities to military objectives”.