Stop the illegal US-Israel war on Iran:

Australia must act for truth, sovereignty and peace

The unfolding military assault by the United States and Israel on the sovereign nation of Iran marks a catastrophic escalation that threatens to engulf the Middle East, shatter global stability, fuel inflation and send national and global economies into serious recession, and threaten wider ongoing wars.

This is not a war of necessity — it is a war of choice, driven by the US dominance agenda made explicit by Trump, which is a relentless pursuit of resource control and geopolitical supremacy; and by Israel’s aims to be the dominant force in the region, deny the rights and continue the oppression of the Palestinian people, and pursue a 'Greater Israel'.

The war also serves the political interests of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, both of whom face significant political and legal problems in their respective countries. Ongoing wars serve as convenient distractions to deflect attention from Netanyahu’s corruption charges and Trump’s entanglement in the Epstein-files scandal.

Already, this illegal aggression has killed over 150 Iranian schoolchildren, victims of misdirected US bombing in the initial phases of attack. The bombing of oil depots in Tehran has unleashed toxic chemical rain on the city's residents. In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes as Israel, in coordination with the US assault on Iran, bombs Beirut suburbs in pursuit of Hezbollah targets. The human cost is mounting, war is spreading across a whole region, and the world is being dragged toward the precipice of ongoing war across multiple continents.

This war is certainly not driven by any serious threat from the Iranian theocratic regime, or by any genuine desire to help the Iranian people overthrow that repressive authoritarian regime and establish a truly democratic government. Trump’s demand that he be involved in selecting a new leader of Iran gives the lie to that. And the US has of course never had any problem with other brutal theocratic, authoritarian and repressive regimes in the Middle East or elsewhere, as long as they serve or go along with US interests. Trump has taken US hypocrisy on such issues to new heights.

Australia should be raising its voice against this new and dangerous chapter in world affairs; join with other nations to oppose it in the forums of the world; call for adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law; and work to establish a genuine ‘rules-based international order’ applied equally to all. Just as we have previously condemned the poisonous ideology of Trumpism and the US intervention in Venezuela, SEARCH will seek to join with all other progressive movements and people working towards these goals.

An illegal act of aggression

This attack, launched without United Nations Security Council authorisation, flagrantly violates the UN Charter and assaults the foundational principles of international law. The Trump administration's 2025 National Security Strategy makes no secret of its contempt for international law or even the flawed rules-based order promoted by past US administrations, embracing instead a world (in the words of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller) ‘governed by strength, governed by force, governed by power’. By bombing Iran, the US and Israel have attacked not only a single nation but the very concept of sovereignty and territorial integrity upon which global peace depends.

The implications extend far beyond the Middle East. When great powers discard legal constraints and act on raw force alone, every nation becomes vulnerable. The signal sent to the world is clear: might makes right, and international law is whatever the powerful say it is.

The US’s wider, deeper motives: resources and geopolitical power

For the United States, the strategic calculus runs wide and deep. As strategic analyst Clinton Fernandes has documented, securing control over global oil supplies remains central to America's strategy for containing China's rise. The recent intervention in Venezuela — where the US effectively sought to establish a protectorate to control its oil revenues — provides the unmistakable blueprint. This war is not about freedom, democracy, or even countering a genuine threat from Iran's theocratic regime. It is about resource dominance and geopolitical rivalry, fought with the blood of others.

Let us also be clear: the Iranian government is a brutal, repressive regime that exploits and suppresses its own people. But the US has never objected to brutality when it serves American interests. Trump has taken this hypocrisy to new heights, demanding a role in selecting Iran's next leader while maintaining cosy relations with other authoritarian regimes across the Middle East. This war is not about helping the Iranian people — it is about controlling their country's resources and strategic position, and further strengthening US power in the region.

A new and terrifying frontier: AI warfare

This conflict marks a grim milestone as the first major war significantly enabled and managed by artificial intelligence. At the centre of the US campaign is the Maven Smart System, a platform that integrates AI and machine learning to process satellite imagery and surveillance data at unprecedented speed. What once took twelve hours to deliver targeting information now happens in under a minute.

The prospect of AI being used for autonomous targeting — removing humans from life-and-death decisions — is a terrifying reality the world has barely begun to confront. The ethical implications are staggering, yet there has been almost no public debate about outsourcing the decision to kill to algorithms.

There is a chilling irony here. Anthropic, the AI company that developed the Claude model, had its Defense Department contracts threatened with cancellation when it refused to assent to using Claude for mass surveillance of US citizens or for lethal autonomous weapons without human oversight. Yet Anthropic had already been involved in planning for this war and its data centres in Saudi Arabia have now become targets, hit by Iranian retaliation.

This is where we stand: watching the US and its allies deploy technologies that make war faster, more efficient, and more detached from human judgment, setting a horrific precedent for every future conflict. And still, barely a political conversation has been had about what this means for humanity as we venture into an era of mindless (literally ‘mindless’) and perpetual war.

 AUKUS in action: Australia's loss of control

The Australian government's silence on this crisis is complicity. But worse than silence is action. We now have confirmation that three Australian military personnel were aboard a US submarine engaged in this conflict, sinking an Iranian vessel in international waters, killing many of its crew. At present, up to 70 ADF members are training on US nuclear submarines and 400 are scheduled to be on permanent rotation as AUKUS ramps up. We are also sending a radar plane and 85 Australian defence personnel to the UAE, at their request under a bilateral agreement. This is not a distant war — it is becoming our war.

This is what AUKUS means in practice. It is not merely a submarine pact; it is a deep and binding military integration that strips Australia of sovereign control over its own forces. As former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans has now stated, recent events are ‘a wake-up call that can no longer be ignored’, and the AUKUS pact itself ‘should be reconsidered’.

Our personnel are now engaged in an illegal US war by default, without the mandate of the Australian people, without parliamentary debate, without any democratic deliberation. This serves as a stark warning: AUKUS is a one-way street to becoming a permanent adjunct to America's forever wars.

The Albanese government is further locking Australia into a one-sided, unequal and abusive relationship, tightening the constraints on our independence, potentially limiting our future strategic choices and eroding our ability to stay out of future conflicts. This decision stands in contrast to the principled position taken by the Australian Labor Party to oppose the illegal war on Iraq in 2003 and is a betrayal by Albanese of the historical anti-war legacy of the Labor Left.

What the Australian Government should do now

The Albanese government should immediately break its silence and act decisively to break from Trump and act in the national interest by asserting an independent foreign policy.

First, it should speak truthfully to the Australian people and the international community: declare that the US-Israel war on Iran is illegal, has already caused mass civilian casualties, and risks catastrophic regional conflagration. Australia must not be complicit through silence.

Second, it should immediately commence an urgent, high-priority review of how to disengage from the AUKUS agreement and develop an independent, sovereign defence strategy focused on the genuine collective security of our continent and region. The path to war being forced upon us is not inevitable — we can choose a different direction.

Third, it should issue a clear and unequivocal statement to all Asia-Pacific nations that Australia will not support, facilitate, or be further involved in the forward military posture of the United States in our region. We must be a force for stability, not a launchpad for conflict.

Building a movement for sovereignty, peace, and justice

The Australian government has backed itself into a corner on foreign policy and defence. The Trump administration has made national humiliation and subservience to US interests the unwritten condition of partnership. It is unlikely the Albanese government will change course without sustained public pressure.

That is why this moment demands more than statements — it demands action. The labour and other progressive movements, community organisations, and all people of conscience now need to rally together to build a powerful national movement. We need the widest possible coalition for sovereignty, peace, and justice that can mobilise society for a sustainable and peaceful future for Australia and the entire Asia-Pacific region.

As always, such major changes of policy and direction will only come from mobilisation of people’s movements. It will require patient and collaborative work to build a durable movement that reaches across our country and all its diverse communities. The stakes could not be higher. Every day this war continues, the risk of broader conflagration grows. Every day Australia remains silent, our complicity deepens. Every day AUKUS binds us more tightly to America's wars, our sovereignty erodes further.

Australians should reject any path to war that is forced upon us against our national interests. We should demand a foreign policy based on cooperation, international law, and respect for the sovereignty of all nations. We should raise our voices, join with others, and build a movement that can turn this country away from the abyss. SEARCH members will join with all movements and people who will call on Australians to take this course, and build public opinion and a broad people’s movement with these aims.

The silence ends now. Australia must act for truth, sovereignty, and peace.

SEARCH Committee, 13 March 2026