The Israeli government may push Australia to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation, with the country’s ambassador in Canberra calling for “extreme measures” in response to Tehran’s missile and drone attacks over the weekend.
Israeli diplomats want the Albanese government to consider diplomatic measures and sanctions against Iran and any entities involved in training, financing or supplying the IRGC. Embassy officials in Canberra claimed Iran’s attack on Israel, which failed to cause major damage, was “unprecedented” and risked a “wide-scale regional conflict”.
Iran’s strikes came after it accused Israel of bombing Tehran’s embassy in Damascus, Syria, two weeks ago. Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the weekend’s strikes.
In a briefing to journalists on Monday, Israel’s deputy ambassador to Australia, Chris Cantor, said his country’s government may urge the Albanese government to level further sanctions on Iran. Embassy officials claimed about 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles had targeted Israel, launched from Iran as well as sites in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.
Israel, with the help of key western allies including the US, UK as well as Jordan, claimed to have intercepted 99% of the launches, but added that some ballistic missiles had reached Israel, damaging the Nevatim airbase in the south of the country, which remained operational.
In Monday’s briefing in Canberra, Cantor would not say whether Israel may make further military response to the strikes, but said: “Israel keeps its right to self-defence.”
Asked what further response Israel may seek from allies, Cantor suggested that could include asking governments to designate the IRGC, part of Iran’s armed forces, as a terrorist entity. He said the aim should be to “minimise the Iranian threat”, noting the nation’s longtime opposition to Israel.
“We believe this [Iran’s strikes] should be followed by extreme measures from members of the international community,” he said.
Cantor went on to say such measures should include sanctions and diplomatic measures to limit Iranian and IRGC activity, including targeting of Iranian entities assisting the IRGC.
The US designated the IRGC several years ago, with the UK and European Union considering the question. Israel’s ambassador to Canada reportedly asked the Trudeau government to consider IRGC designation over the weekend.
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Cantor said any request to Australia hadn’t been officially made yet, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has already appeared to rule out any diplomatic sanctions on Iran.
“These things always need to be considered. That is always the first thing that occurs is people say, ‘will you expel diplomats?’ What that does is, though, limit and restrict your capacity to then have influence and to engage with them,” Albanese told Radio National on Monday.
“I know that it’s always something that’s put forward at a time like this. We have made it very clear what our position is on the Iranian actions and have condemned it. We’ll continue to engage with our international partners as well, but we urge Iran to cease being, playing a rogue state role in the region and disrupting.”
Albanese went on to dismiss “any of Iran’s so-called justifications here”, calling the weekend strikes “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.”
“We do not want to see escalation. What we do is we condemn Iran’s actions in the strongest possible terms.”
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