Australia’s PM gambles that quick support for Iran strikes will prove the right strategy

Australian PM Anthony Albanese swiftly backed US-Israel strikes on Iran, a move influenced by alleged Iranian attacks on Jewish sites in Australia. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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SYDNEY - Within hours of the first strikes hitting Iran on the morning of Feb 28, Australia became one of the first countries to firmly back the United States-Israel action.

Though other Western leaders, such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, were initially cautious, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quick to endorse the US attack on Iran’s military and security apparatus, and backed efforts to topple the Iranian regime.

As a staunch US ally that typically supports Washington in foreign conflicts, Australia’s backing of the strikes was not surprising.

But Mr Albanese also signalled more immediate reasons for doing so, including Australian intelligence that found Iran organised two attacks on Jewish sites in Australia in 2024, including the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne.

Iran’s involvement in the attacks prompted Australia to expel the country’s ambassador in August 2025 – the first expulsion of an ambassador by Canberra since World War II – and to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a state sponsor of terrorism.