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Transcript

Monday, 23 June 2025

Topics: Israel-Iran conflict.

E&OE………

JAMES GLENDAY: And we are now joined by Shadow Assistant Minister and Liberal Senator Dave Sharma, who previously served as the Australian Ambassador to Israel. Dave, welcome back to News Breakfast.

DAVE SHARMA: Good morning, James. Good to join you.

JAMES GLENDAY: You've spent a lot of time in Israel. I just wanted to take you there. First of all, how long do you think that Benjamin Netanyahu would have wanted the United States to get involved in this way and directly strike the Iranian nuclear facilities?

DAVE SHARMA: Well, look, Iran's nuclear program has been a focus of concern not only for Israel and the United States, but for the international community now for well over 20 years. And you know, even when I was in Israel, which is now seven or eight years ago, this was an active topic of conversation. Would diplomacy work? Would a military option eventually be needed? So this is not an issue that has arisen, know, just in the last few months or years. It's been a long standing concern in the international community. And clearly if Israel ever took military action against Iran, which it has taken, it wanted and hoped for the support of its most important ally, the United States.

JAMES GLENDAY: You're a former diplomat. I just wonder what will be going on now. Is there any chance that Iran is going to return to the negotiating table and hold diplomatic talks given it's just been attacked again?

DAVE SHARMA: Look, I think there is a prospect for that and you know, clearly that would be the best outcome we've seen. The Iranian foreign minister, he's on his way to Moscow. Russia has positioned itself as some sort of intermediary in these talks. You know, President Putin had a conversation with President Trump just last week on this topic. So if Iran can find a face saving way out to end this conflict, but preserve some honor if you like, or respect, I think they would take it. But the question is, is is that possible? They've obviously incurred a lot of damage. The Iran, the nuclear program for Iran was a point of national pride, even though it was a source of considerable concern to the rest of the international community. And the question is, can the Islamic Republic of Iran, the regime that runs Iran, absorb that and still maintain the legitimacy of its rule there?

JAMES GLENDAY: The UN Nuclear watchdog said recently that Iran was in breach of its non proliferation obligations. But a lot of the analysts we've been hearing from this morning were unconvinced. Evidence that's been presented by how about how close Iran was to actually turning that into a bomb. Was enough evidence presented publicly before the US Went ahead with these strikes?

DAVE SHARMA: Look, that's obviously for individuals to decide, but I found the evidence quite compelling and obviously I've been someone who's followed Iran's nuclear developments over a number of years. But Iran, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had several hundred kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%. Now, to get that to weapons grade is only a very short step in the centrifuge, if you like. Iran had mastered ballistic missile technology, which would provide a delivery system. And there has been evidence that Iran was engaged in weaponisation research, which is, how do you put fissile material on a warhead with an ignition device? So, you know, people could say, well, it wasn't a lay down misere case. But in these sorts of areas of where Iran is clearly trying to hide from the world what it was up to and had no interest in being transparent about its nuclear program, you know, sometimes you need to operate in a situation of some doubt in that regard.

JAMES GLENDAY: What could this mean for Australians watching this morning? I'm sure many people are wondering, does it elevate the national security risk here, do you think?

DAVE SHARMA: Well, look, first and foremost should. You know, we do have Australians in both Iran and Israel, and obviously, you know, it's a difficult time for them because the airspace has been closed, the evacuation routes have been limited. So that is obviously a concern. There is the potential, though, for Iran to respond to this, not necessarily through direct military means, but through terrorist proxies and assets that they have around the world. Hezbollah cells, if you like. And so Western intelligence communities, I expect, will be on heightened alert for any prospect that Iran might seek to target civilian populations in third countries as a way of responding to this attack. And certainly in Australia, we should be taking that threat seriously, and I expect our security agencies are doing just that.

JAMES GLENDAY: Just before I let you go, Dave, the federal government only issued a fairly neutral statement yesterday noting Trump's calls that it was time for peace and negotiation. It certainly wasn't a full blown endorsement of the President's actions, although we are seeing reports that that has actually happened or something close to it already this morning. What did you make of the government's response?

DAVE SHARMA: Well, I found the government's response underwhelming and perplexing. Now, I understand that Foreign Minister Penny Wong has made a statement this morning, or been interviewed on the media this morning, expressing support for the US action because of our shared concern about Iran's nuclear program. I think that should be an obvious and straightforward position for Australia to adopt. And I'm surprised that the government did not seek to communicate to Australia, our position yesterday.

JAMES GLENDAY: All right. Dave Sharma, Shadow Assistant Minister, thank you very much for your time this morning.

DAVE SHARMA: Thanks so much for having me on, James.

[ENDS]