Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister inform the parliament and the Ryan electorate of the government’s position on Iran’s failure to implement UN Security Council resolution 1696?

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First of all I thank the member for Ryan for his question, and for asking not just for the interest of the House but on behalf of the constituents of Ryan.

Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Aviation and Transport Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They talk about it a lot in Ryan.

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am sure they do. The government is seriously concerned that Iran has chosen to defy the clearly expressed views of the international community—through the United Nations Security Council—that it should suspend its uranium enrichment related activities by a deadline which was the end of last month. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director-General’s report at the end of last month confirmed that Iran had not taken any steps to adhere to the Security Council resolution’s demands and that it has also continued to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency by denying it full access and the transparency required to verify its previous nuclear declarations. The report also uncovered a further, as yet unexplained, incident of highly enriched uranium contamination. Australia shares the disappointment of the P5—the five permanent members of the Security Council—and Germany, who have worked so hard to try to persuade Iran to accept an incentives package and to understand the possible consequences of not adhering to the demands of the international community.

In conclusion, we hope that over the next few weeks it will be possible for the international community to persuade Iran to adhere to the demands of the international community, but if Iran refuses to do so there is no doubt that some kinds of sanctions will be introduced by the international community in one form or another. I do not want to speculate at this stage on what those sanctions may be, but it is a matter of grave concern to us that Iran is not listening to the IAEA or to the United Nations Security Council, and it is a matter of grave concern that a country which has been supporting Hezbollah and Hamas with weapons and money, and which has a president who says that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth, could have plans to develop a nuclear weapons capability. That is deeply destabilising, and Iran should fulfil its obligations of responsible behaviour to the international community.