22 August 2019
Dear MPs and Senators
Echoes of Iraq: Why Australia shouldn't be joining US action against Iran
I am writing in response to the announcement by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds yesterday that Australia will contribute military assets and personnel to the US-led mission in the Strait of Hormuz. Mr Morrison said Australia will help ensure freedom of navigation in international waters and that we are acting in response to ‘destabilising behaviour’ in the Gulf by Iran. Ms Reynolds said our core concern is de-escalation.
In fact, this crisis was generated a year ago by the destabilising behaviour of US President Donald Trump who pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA). Until that moment the agreement was acknowledged by all, even the US, to have been working well. Further, sending military assets into a tense situation is not a move likely to de-escalate tension. If de-escalation is genuinely desired, it makes more sense for Australia to use our embassy in Tehran for urgent diplomacy. Sending a warship and surveillance aircraft to the area, at the behest of the US, does not indicate an impartial commitment to de-escalating tension.
On 27 June I wrote to the Prime Minister on behalf of Australians for War Powers Reform, urging that Australia resist such pressure for action against Iran. I appealed to him for a debate in our Parliament on the growing tensions between the US and Iran and steps that Australia could take to reduce them. You can read that letter, and the reply from Assistant Minister Ben Morton on the PM’s behalf, at this link.
As the UN Security Council has not passed a resolution calling for military action, and in the absence of a direct threat to Australia from Iran, any action by the Australian Defence Force against Iran will be illegal under international law. Australia regularly, and rightly, reminds other nations that the rules-based international order must be upheld. Here we had an opportunity to practise what we preach, yet it seems we are unwilling to do so.
I appeal to you to discuss this issue with your colleagues and party leadership and push for a debate and a vote in our Parliament before any deployments are made.
For more information on the build-up to this crisis you may be interested in this article in today’s SMH/Age.
Yours sincerely
Paul Barratt AO
President
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