Antinuclear

Statement on military attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran

25 June 25

Friends of the Earth Australia expresses our profound concern regarding the US attacks of nuclear facilities in Iran. The military strikes were not endorsed by the United Nations or the US Congress. They should not be endorsed by Australia.

The current hostilities would not be occurring if not for the widely criticized decision of the first Trump administration to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. Australia should be condemning the US for that decision rather than endorsing unilateral, unauthorised US military strikes. Australia needs to revisit the US military alliance (including AUKUS nuclear submarines) in light of the reckless behaviour of the US.

There are reports today of strikes near the Bushehr nuclear plant. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has told the UN Security Council that a direct hit on Bushehr could “result in a very high release of radioactivity”, with “great consequences” within and beyond Iran’s borders. A strike on the Bushehr nuclear power plant raises the prospect of a nuclear disaster akin to Chernobyl or Fukushima. 

The fact that these attacks have been chosen as first targets highlights the vulnerability of nuclear facilities worldwide to be used as weapons against the local population. There is a history of conventional military strikes on nuclear facilities in the Middle East. Examples include the destruction of research reactors in Iraq by Israel and the US; Iran’s attempts to strike nuclear facilities in Iraq during the 1980−88 war (and vice versa); Iraq’s attempted strikes on Israel’s nuclear facilities; and Israel’s bombing of a suspected nuclear reactor site in Syria in 2007.

From a domestic perspective, recent developments in the Middle East ‒ and Ukraine ‒ highlight the vulnerability of the nuclear power reactors that the Coalition wants to build. The Coalition’s plan to build nuclear reactors would leave Australia vulnerable to missile warfare and sabotage, the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group warns. The group includes former Australian Defence Force chief Chris Barrie, who said: “Every nuclear power facility is a potential dirty bomb because rupture of containment facilities can cause devastating damage. Modern warfare is increasingly focused on missiles and uncrewed aerial systems, and with the proposed power stations all located within a 100 kilometres of the coast, they are a clear and accessible target”.

Australia should:

1. Condemn Israel’s nuclear weapons program (the only known nuclear weapons program in the Middle East) and support necessary steps to enforce nuclear disarmament.
2. Urgently sign and ratify the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) ‒ a promise Labor committed to in 2018, but has not fulfilled yet.
3. Call for negotiations to reinstate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or something similar, to guard against nuclear proliferation in Iran.
4. Initiate a review into the AUKUS military agreement including the plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
5. Initiate a broader review into the military alliance with the US in light of the Trump administration’s latest breach of international rules and norms.
6. Review Australia’s uranium export policies. Currently, Australia exports uranium to nuclear weapons states and to states refusing to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

June 26, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized