NZ ‘acknowledges’ reasons given by US and Israel for attack on Iran, stops short of military support

Summarised by Centrist

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand “acknowledge[s] that the actions taken overnight by the US and Israel were designed to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security”. 

The statement stopped short of a direct endorsement but accepted the stated rationale for the strikes.

The statement reiterated that Wellington has long condemned Iran’s nuclear programme, “its destabilising activities in the region and elsewhere, and its repression of its own people”, and said the Iranian regime had “long since lost … support”.

The statement condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Gulf states and stressed the need to avoid further escalation, to protect civilians, and to “call for a resumption of negotiations and adherence to international law”.

Asked in a Morning Report interview whether New Zealand supported the US–Israel strikes, Luxon repeatedly declined to use that word, instead saying he “understand[s] fully why the Americans and Israelis have undertaken the independent action … to make sure Iran can’t threaten people.”

The conflict has since widened, with US President Donald Trump warning “a big wave” of further strikes is yet to come and Iran signalling it is prepared for a “long war”.

Former prime minister Helen Clark labelled the government’s response a “disgrace” on social media. She argued there was no clear imminent threat, and said New Zealand’s statement failed to call out the “illegal strike against Iran in the middle of diplomatic negotiations” that were “going quite well”.

Luxon has defended the government’s position in interviews, expressing moral condemnation of the Iranian regime’s brutality while stopping short of judging the legality of the initial strikes, saying that is for the US and Israel to explain. 

Luxon has also made clear New Zealand was not consulted ahead of the strikes and has no intention of joining any military action.

Read more over at The NZ Herald, RNZ, and The Beehive

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