Media Releases

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) today called on the Federal Government to emulate its US and European allies and partners in announcing sanctions on individuals and entities related to Iran’s recent provision of ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine.

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “On September 10, the US announced broad sanctions against multiple Iranian and Russian individuals and entities involved in Iran’s recent transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia.

Concurrently, the UK, France and Germany jointly announced the cancellation of bilateral air services with Iran and declared that they ‘will pursue the designations of significant entities and individuals involved with Iran’s ballistic missile programme and the transfer of ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia’ and that they ‘are closely coordinating our strong response to these transfers with our European and international partners.’

Unfortunately, the only ‘action’ the Australian Government appears to have taken in this regard was a supportive Tweet by the Foreign Minister on September 11.

“This has been a disappointing pattern since September 2022. For two years, the Government has imposed far fewer sanctions on Iran than its allies and partners and consistently announced them far later, if at all. This is especially true when it comes to Iran’s support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, about which the Government has said almost nothing and for which it last imposed sanctions on March 20, 2023. This should change,” Dr Rubenstein asserted.

He continued: “That change starts with coordinating sanctions announcements and targets with allies and partners, which increases their impact and effectiveness. This was a key theme AIJAC stressed in its recent submission to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Reference Committee’s inquiry into Australia’s sanctions regime.

“Next week will be the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and the start of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ protests in Iran. This week is also the second anniversary of the first appearance of Iranian drones in Ukraine, while the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks is approaching in less than a month.

“The Iranian regime’s activities have only escalated since 2022 in all these areas, against its own people, against Ukrainians, against Israelis and Jews, and against the interests of Australia and its allies in every sphere. It is time to see a commensurate response from the Australian Government recognising these realities, beginning with a substantial expansion of sanctions in coordination with allies and partners,” he concluded.