Canberra [Australia], April 2 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday it remains “not clear” what further objectives need to be achieved in Iran after US President Donald Trump claimed Tehran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Albanese called the conflict in West Asia a “testing time” for Australia, citing wide economic fallout, particularly an energy shock linked to disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. He said Australia is not an active participant in the war but had supported the original aims: preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and degrading its capacity to threaten neighbours.
Albanese said those goals appear largely met, echoing Trump’s claims that Iran’s air force, navy, military-industrial base and missile capabilities have been weakened by recent US operations. He warned, however, that a prolonged conflict would increasingly strain the global economy through rising fuel prices.
“Despite its indiscriminate attacks across the region, Iran’s air force is degraded. Its navy is degraded. Its military industrial base is degraded. And so too is its capacity to launch missiles. That is a good thing. And now those objectives have been realised. It is not clear what more needs to be achieved or what the end point looks like. What is clear is that the longer the war goes on, the more significant the impact on the global economy will be. Not just the price of fuel, but everything that relies upon fuel. Literally everything that moves,” Albanese said.
To ease cost-of-living pressures at home, Albanese announced his government has halved the fuel excise for three months, cutting petrol and diesel tax by 26 cents per litre, and reached agreement with states and territories to return GST-related gains to consumers for an additional cut — a combined saving of 32 cents per litre.
Trump, in a national address since the start of hostilities on February 28, praised US military action as a “decisive” blow, saying Iran’s maritime and aerial capabilities have been systematically dismantled and that its broader military infrastructure has been heavily diminished. “Iran’s navy is gone, its air force is in ruins, and its leaders, most of them terrorists, are now dead,” he declared, adding that Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones has been “dramatically curtailed” and that weapons factories and rocket launchers have been destroyed.
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