Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called for “de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy” after announcing that the Australian embassy in Iran would close amid continuing hostilities between Iran and Israel.
All Australian foreign affairs staff and their dependents in the Iranian capital have been told to leave “based on advice about the deteriorating security environment”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is seeking to deploy consular staff to Azerbaijan, including its border crossings, to support Australians departing Iran.
DFAT is “in the process of getting a crisis response team into Azerbaijan and the purpose is to the Australians back into that border and that is the border crossing are most likely for exit from Tehran, “Wong said late on Friday morning.
In an earlier statement, she urged “Australians who are able to leave Iran to do so now, if it is safe”.
“Those who are unable to, or do not wish to leave, are advised to shelter in place,” she said.
“We are continuing planning to support Australians seeking to depart Iran, and we remain in close contact with other partner countries.”
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in Washington, quoting a message from Trump.
The conflict between Israel and Iran erupted a week ago, when the former launched an attack against the Islamic republic’s missile capabilities, claiming it was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,300 others, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
Israel says Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 24 and wounded hundreds more.
Iran has warned of “all-out war” if the US joins the fray.
Over 3,200 Australians registered for assistance across Iran, Israel
There are now more than 2,000 Australians who have registered for assistance to leave Iran, up from 1,500 on Thursday.
“It’s a difficult, hard situation, the airspace is still closed,” Health Minister Mark Butler told Seven’s Sunrise program on Friday.
“We’ll be exploring every opportunity we can to support people getting out in other ways.”
The government has already helped Australians flee Israel using a border crossing to Jordan, and some of those people only got 55 minutes to get moving.
“When the opportunity arises to get people out, we take that opportunity,” Butler said.
There are still more than 1,200 Australians registered for assistance to depart Israel, where the airspace is also closed.
Speaking in Adelaide just before Midday, Wong said Australian military personnel had been deployed to the region to help evacuation efforts.
“The deployment is for supporting people; it is not for combat purposes,” she emphasised.
‘De-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy’
Wong also said she’d spoken with her US counterpart Marco Rubio overnight.
“We had a good discussion. A good discussion about the way through the conflict and issues in the Australia-US relationship and our bilateral cooperation,” she said.
“I emphasise there is an opportunity given what president Trump has said. There is an opportunity over the next two weeks for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.”
“That is what we want to see and that is what the world wants to see. Iran must come to the table and it must stop any nuclear weapons program.”
