What you need to know
Good aftrenoon and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced an Iranian projectile has struck near Australia’s Al Minhad base in the United Arab Emirates. No injuries have been reported.
- Top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and General Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force, have been killed by Israeli strikes.
- Speaking in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump said the US would be leaving Iran in the “very near future”.
- Trump lashed out at NATO and Indo-Pacific allies, stating he never needed their help in Iran. “We do not need the help of anyone,” he said on social media.
- Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he is not aware of any request from Trump for military support to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and Australia is not considering sending support to the region for that purpose.
- The head of the US National Counterterrorism Centre, Joe Kent, resigned over the war, saying Iran had posed “no imminent threat to our nation”.
- The Israeli military said its strikes in Lebanon were continuing as it claims to be targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
- Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has rejected de-escalation proposals conveyed to Tehran by intermediaries, demanding Israel and the US first be “brought to their knees”, a senior Iranian official said.
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In a joint statement on the Middle East conflict, Australian and New Zealand foreign and defence ministers have “urged the protection of civilian life, resumption of dialogue and diplomacy and adherence to international law”.
Albanese asks each state and territory to appoint their own fuel envoy
Each state and territory will be asked to select a “point person” to coordinate with the federal government on fuel challenges, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced, as he prepares for a meeting of national cabinet tomorrow focused on fuel issues.
“I’ll be asking state premiers and chief ministers to appoint someone, a point person, so that the commonwealth can collaborate in a way to make sure we deal with the challenges which are there,” Albanese said.
“We know that we do have fuel security. All of our ships have arrived at this point, but we’ve had a surge in demand, which is leading to some shortages in some areas, particularly of diesel. We’re very conscious of that, and that’s why we continue to work every day to make a difference,” the prime minister said.
Albanese announced state and territory leaders would meet in Tasmania on Thursday, and flagged measures to promote resilience amid global uncertainty in the lead up to the May budget.
Analysis: Director of Trump’s National Counterterrorism Centre resigns
A certain Joe Kent, a complete unknown to most people until he resigned as director of Donald Trump’s National Counterterrorism Centre, briefly gave Trump-haters some solace as he scorched the earth on his way out today.
The special forces veteran, appointed by Trump to the senior security post last year, alleged that the president of the United States was goaded into declaring war on Iran by “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.
Read more: Trump, hit by the karma bus, wins on battlefield but loses on diplomacy
Not only had Israel drawn the US into the 2003 Iraq war, said Kent, but its officials had quietly sown pro-war sentiment within the Trump administration to encourage the present conflict with Iran.
Iranian projectile strikes near Australian base
An Iranian projectile struck near Australia’s Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates at 9.15am today, damaging an accommodation block and a medical facility, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced.
“At the Al Minhad base that Australia has in the United Arab Emirates, there was an Iranian projectile hit near that base. I can confirm that no Australian personnel were injured, and everyone is absolutely safe at this point in time,” Albanese said at a press conference in Tasmania this afternoon.
“There was minor damage to an accommodation block and a medical facility due to a small fire that was created as a result of that projectile hitting on a road leading up to that base.”
“I’ve spoken with the defence minister [Richard Marles] about this, and it’s important that we recognise that the Iranian regime is continuing to engage in, frankly, random attacks right across the Gulf region.”
Al Minhad Air Base is located about 24 kilometres south of Dubai. It is operated by the UAE Air Force and hosts also British Armed Forces.
Wong warns Israel against ground operations in Lebanon
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the federal government is troubled by the expansion of the war in Lebanon as she warns Israel against conducting a major ground operation to dismantle the militant group Hezbollah.
“We are gravely concerned by the expansion of the conflict into Lebanon, the loss of life and the displacement of more than 1 million civilians,” a spokesperson for Wong said.
“Australia condemns Hezbollah’s ongoing strikes on Israel and for dragging Lebanon into conflict – Hezbollah must end its operations and disarm.
“We support Lebanese authorities’ efforts to achieve this.”
Iran targets Tel Aviv in retaliatory strikes
Iran has targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in retaliation for the killing of security chief Ali Larijani, state media has reported.
Larijani was secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country since supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on February 28.
International agreements have sought to prohibit the use of cluster munitions, which burst and scatter explosive sub-munitions over a wider area, and can kill and maim long after conflicts end.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says unguided cluster munitions pose a serious risk to civilians, particularly when used in populated areas.
with Reuters
PM flags pre-budget measures to shield Australian economy from uncertainty
Earlier this morning we brought you word that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would be convening the national cabinet tomorrow, as announced during his address to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association in Sydney.
In the same speech, Albanese flagged changes to come before the budget is delivered on May 13 to address “global uncertainty”.
“We want to make sure that we do everything we can to shield the Australian economy, households and businesses from the worst of global uncertainty. That will be a focus of the budget – but we won’t be waiting until the budget,” Albanese said.
“We will have more to say about the actions we are taking in the days ahead. This new global challenge demonstrates that we must keep building Australia’s self-reliance and our economic resilience.”
Israeli strikes hit Beirut, southern Lebanon
At least two strikes hit central Beirut early today, Lebanese media is reporting.
AP journalists heard loud booms, low-flying jets, and ambulance sirens over the capital.
Videos from one impact site showed two apartments stacked above one another hollowed out in a multistorey building.
Shortly after, two strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, sending flames and smoke into the sky. No injuries were immediately reported from either strike.
Foreign minister claims Israel has ‘won’ war but no indication of end to conflict
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the country had effectively won its war with Iran, but gave no indication of when the conflict might end, saying only that the campaign would continue until its objectives were achieved.
Speaking at a news conference, Saar said Israel was seeking to remove “existential threats”, but he did not say how the government would determine when those goals had been met.
“One must be patient,” he said, speaking on the 18th day of a war that has killed more than 2000 people, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, but also in Israel, Iraq and across the Gulf.
Saar and other Israeli officials have said the aim is to significantly weaken Iran’s ability to carry out attacks against Israel over the long term, while creating conditions inside Iran that could ultimately enable Iranians to overthrow their rulers.
US to mass produce ‘indispensable’ reverse-engineered Iranian drones
The Pentagon is planning to mass produce one-way LUCAS attack drones, which have been deployed by US forces in the current war in the Middle East after they were created by reverse-engineering Iran’s cheap and deadly Shahed system.
The LUCAS drone — or Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System — is a US version of Iran’s kamikaze drone, and is manufactured by the US company SpektreWorks. The Defence Department sent a unit operating the drones to the Middle East ahead of the start of Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
Pentagon leaders have described the system as indispensable in the conflict.
“The idea is to mass produce them in this country and have surge capacity,” Emil Michael, the Defence Department’s under secretary of defence for research and engineering, said at a defence industry conference in Washington overnight.
National cabinet to meet amid fuel shocks
Anthony Albanese has announced a meeting of national cabinet in Tasmania tomorrow, in which fuel supply issues resulting from the Iran war are expected to be discussed.
The prime minister said the meeting would ensure coordination between federal and state governments to the benefit of business, farmers and communities across the country, particularly in the regions.
National cabinet meetings involve all state premiers and territory leaders, alongside the prime minister and relevant federal ministers. The announcement was made during an address to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association in Sydney.
National cabinet last met on January 30 in Sydney, where an agreement was struck on funding state and territory hospitals and the NDIS.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
