Warning as Aussies face Middle East fallout

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says it is “inevitable” Australians will pay more for fuel as the conflict between nuclear-armed Israel and Iran escalates.

The long-time foes continued trading deadly strikes overnight, with civilian deaths reported by both sides.

In Iran, emergency crews have been battling blazes at several major oil and gas facilities after the Israeli military hit them.

State media has also reported damage to military sites across the Islamic republic, including the defence ministry’s headquarters in the capital Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran has targeted the Israeli port city of Haifa as well as residential areas in southern Israel and vowed to continue to intensify attacks.

Mr Marles said on Monday the Albanese government was “very concerned” by the rapidly escalating conflict and repeated Canberra’s call for “both parties to focus on diplomacy and dialogue”.

Warning as Aussies face Middle East fallout

“In making that call, we are joining voices from the United States, from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and many other countries around the world which are also urging the parties to engage in restraint and to focus on diplomacy and dialogue precisely because we are worried about this escalating into a wider conflict,” he told the ABC.

The price of Brent crude oil – the oil benchmark with the strongest sway on Australia’s fuel prices – jumped 4 per cent on Sunday evening to $US77 (A$118) per barrel.

It came on top of the 8 per cent surge on Friday when Israel launched its “pre-emptive” attack targeting Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr Marles said the extent of the impact hostilities would have on Australia’s economy “depends a bit on how long the conflict goes and the way in which it plays out”.

But he said it was “right to focus on fuel”.

“And already we have seen over the course of the last few days the global oil price go up and it’s the inevitable consequence of any conflict,” Mr Marles said.

“We saw this with the war in Ukraine, that does disrupt global supply chains and that has an economic impact around the world.

“So, we are very much monitoring that closely to see what the ultimate impact is here, in Australia.”

He added that it was “part of why we are very much urging in this moment for both parties to engage in diplomacy and dialogue”.

Anthony Albanese, who is in Canada for the G7 summit, told a press conference that concerns about Australia’s fuel reserves had been around “for quite a while“.

The Prime Minister said it was “something that the government continues to monitor”.

Mr Albanese also said he and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney discussed the Middle East when they met in Calgary ahead of the G7 summit.

He said they “share a view wanting to see a de-escalation of conflict, wanting to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy”.

“I have expressed before our concern about Iran gaining the capacity of nuclear weapons as something that is a threat to security in the region,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

“But we, along with other like-minded country, do want to see that priority on dialogue and diplomacy.”

Embassy, ADF personnel ‘accounted for’

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched its offensive after the UN’s atomic watchdog declared Iran was breaching its obligations, with inspectors admitting they could not say if Tehran’s nuclear program was “exclusively peaceful”.

As of Monday morning, as many as 14 Iranian nuclear scientists have been reportedly killed.

IDF strikes have also killed senior military officers, including the intelligence chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and his deputy.

Citing Trump administration officials, US media reported overnight that Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The reports came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all but called for regime change in Iran, while IDF officials left the door open to a hit on Mr Khamenei.

Australia has shut embassies across the Middle East, issued Do Not Travel alerts for Israel and Iran and opened crisis portals for both countries.

Mr Marles said Australia’s embassy staff and Australian Defence Force personnel in the region were “all accounted for”.

“Our embassy staff in both Tehran and Tel Aviv are all accounted for and they are safe,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“We have a number of Defence Force personnel, a small number around the region, they too are all accounted for and safe but we will continue to monitor their ongoing safety.

“Beyond that, there are actually thousands of Australians who are in both Iran and Israel.

“Right now, airspace over Iran and Israel is closed, so our message to them is to shelter in place, to watch very closely the Smartraveller website and the advice which is contained on that and if needs be to contact the emergency consular contact numbers.”

Mr Marles said Australian authorities had received a “number of contacts” but that it was “relatively small in the context of the Australian population in both these countries”.

He also urged Australians to “heed” the travel advice and not try entering either Israel or Iran.