The Middle East has not looked like this in living memory. On the morning of Saturday 28 February 2026, as millions of Iranians were observing the pre-dawn meal of Ramadan, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated military assault on Iran that within hours had killed the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and dozens of senior military and political figures. For Canberra, the eruption of large-scale warfare in a region that hosts tens of thousands of Australian citizens forced an immediate reckoning: how closely should Australia align itself with its most important ally in a conflict whose legal basis and strategic wisdom remain sharply contested?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese moved quickly to answer that question. In a joint statement released with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the government declared that Australia "stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against oppression" and that "for decades, the Iranian regime has been a destabilising force, through its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, support for armed proxies, and brutal acts of violence and intimidation." The government confirmed its support for the United States military operation, pointing to Iran's nuclear ambitions and its conduct toward Australia directly. Iran had directed at least two attacks on Australian soil in 2024, targeting the Jewish community in acts the government described as intended to "create fear, divide our society and challenge our sovereignty," and Australia had responded by expelling Iran's ambassador, suspending its embassy in Tehran, and listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Albanese was blunter still. He said Khamenei "was responsible for orchestrating attacks on Australian soil" and that his passing "will not be mourned." The Albanese government backed the American strike on Iran while confirming Australia was not given prior warning. When pressed on that point, Foreign Minister Wong said plainly: "We weren't told in advance. You wouldn't expect us to be. We are not at the centre of the issues in the Middle East but we obviously play a role in the international community."
The admission that Australia's closest ally did not consult Canberra before launching what US President Donald Trump called "major combat operations" deserves scrutiny. The operation, codenamed Roaring Lion by Israel and Operation Epic Fury by the United States, targeted key officials, military commanders, and facilities across Iran. Israel targeted Iranian political and military leaders, while the US aimed to take out Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes. Trump said the action was taken after Iran rejected "every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions."
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor offered unambiguous support for the action. Taylor described the Iranian government as "authoritarian, antisemitic and abhorrent," saying it "wants nuclear weapons, seeks the destruction of Israel, has encouraged terrorism through its proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis — and has supplied weapons to Russia to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine." That bipartisan alignment between Labor and the Coalition on the broad question of Iran's conduct reflects a genuine and longstanding consensus in Canberra about the regime's threat to international order.
The Australian Greens broke sharply from that consensus. The party condemned what it called "illegal, abhorrent and unilateral attacks," arguing that "Australians do not want to be dragged into another US-Israeli war." That position reflects a view held by a significant portion of the Australian public and by several allied governments. Criticism mounted internationally against Washington for taking part in the attacks while still engaged in nuclear negotiations with Tehran. Oman's Foreign Minister, who had been serving as mediator in those talks, told CBS News that Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling of nuclear enrichment just days before the bombs fell. Analysts at the Council on Foreign Relations noted that Iranian negotiators had been tabling serious proposals and that "perhaps more could have been extracted from Iran if diplomacy had more time than a mere two weeks and two sessions."
These are not arguments to dismiss lightly. The question of whether military force was necessary when active diplomacy was yielding progress will be debated by strategists and historians for years. What is harder to dispute is the prior record: beginning in late December 2025, massive nationwide anti-government protests erupted in Iran, driven largely by economic crisis and the collapse of the rial, spreading to over 100 cities in what became the largest unrest since the 1979 revolution. The United Nations Security Council had reimposed sanctions on Iran for failing to comply with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the International Atomic Energy Agency Board had formally declared Iran in non-compliance with its non-proliferation safeguards obligations. The regime's record of repression and external aggression is not a matter of contested interpretation.
For Australians in the region, the geopolitical argument is secondary to more immediate concerns. The government advised Australians to leave Iran as soon as possible if it was safe to do so, warning that its ability to provide consular assistance in Iran is extremely limited. Travel advice for Israel and Lebanon was also upgraded to "Do Not Travel," with Australians urged to leave immediately. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade activated its Crisis Centre to provide consular support to Australians in the region.
The practical disruption has been severe. In response to the strikes, the Iranian regime launched an unprecedented wave of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, targeting several countries that host US military bases, including Bahrain and the UAE. Officials at Dubai International Airport said four people were injured, while Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi confirmed one person was killed and seven injured in a drone strike. Flights across the Middle East and beyond were disrupted as countries around the region closed their airspace, cutting off key hubs that connect Europe, Africa, and the West to Asia. The effects reached South Australia directly: Qatar Airways' Sunday evening flights connecting Adelaide and Doha were cancelled, following cancellations of Saturday evening flights bound to and from Adelaide due to Middle Eastern airspace closures.
Australia's willingness to back the strikes, despite receiving no advance notice and despite the ongoing diplomatic process, reflects the logic of the alliance relationship with Washington. It also reflects the specific Australian grievance: an Iranian regime that sanctioned attacks on synagogues and a kosher restaurant in Sydney and Melbourne. Australia has sanctioned more than 200 Iranian-linked individuals, including more than 100 linked to the IRGC. That is not the posture of a government arriving at this moment without cause.
What remains genuinely uncertain is what comes next. Iran has declared forty days of national mourning and its leadership structure has been decapitated. Iran may find a need to escalate further, making the cost greater for the United States and its partners; whether Hezbollah heeds any Iranian call for a broader escalatory response will be one of the critical questions in the days ahead. The International Atomic Energy Agency and the broader international community now face the challenge of securing Iran's nuclear material in the midst of active conflict. Reasonable people can disagree about whether the strikes were the right decision at the right moment. What they cannot reasonably dispute is that Australia, and the tens of thousands of its citizens with ties to the Middle East, is now living with consequences that were not of its making and for which Canberra had precious little warning.