All the moves that Scott Morrison will announce today on Israel, Iran and the Middle East are good, bold, measured and responsible.
Australia should seldom if ever take refuge in abstaining from anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. If we think the resolution is bad, as they mostly are, then we should have the courage of our convictions to vote no rather than taking refuge in the coward’s castle of abstention.
Similarly, the Morrison government is absolutely right to undertake a root-and-branch review of Australian policy towards Iran. The default position has been just to go along with Barack Obama’s deal that relieved sanctions on Iran in exchange for some restraints on the Iranian nuclear program.
This was always a crummy deal. Even if it is complied with, it leads directly to Iran as a nuclear weapons-capable state just a few years down the track.
Morrison’s policy is not going to be US policy, or the old default policy.
Instead, the government will undertake a full review of whether the deal actually prevents Iran from acquiring nukes. But this review will also examine all the related issues. Are the proceeds of the deal being used by Iran to produce other destabilising weapons and to support the export of terrorism?
Read the article by Greg Sheridan in The Australian.