This handout satellite picture shows damage after US strikes on the Isfahan nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran. Photo: AFP / Satellite Image Maxar Technologies
* This story has been updated to make clear that Arman Askarany accused the government of showing "indifference" to civilian deaths following the Israeli strikes on Iran, not the subsequent US strikes. The initial story did not make this clear distinction.
Prominent lawyers are joining opposition parties as they call for the New Zealand government to denounce a United States attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
It comes as Acting-Prime Minister David Seymour told reporters on Monday there was "no benefit" in rushing to a judgment regarding the US attack.
"We're far better to keep our counsel, because it costs nothing to get more information, but going off half-cocked can be very costly for a small nation."
Iran and Israel continued to exchange strikes over the weekend after Israel's initial attack nearly two weeks ago. Israel said it was a "pre-emptive" strike targeting Iran's nuclear plant and military sites.
Israeli authorities say at least 25 people have been killed, and Iran said on Sunday Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people since 13 June. The New York Times has reported Iranian deaths included children.
The Human Rights Activists news agency puts the death toll in Iran above 650 people.
Israeli security forces and first responders gather at the site of an Iranian strike that hit Ness Ziona in central Israel. Photo: AFP / GIL COHEN-MAGEN
The US entered the war this weekend by attacking what it said was key nuclear sites in Iran - including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan - on Sunday.
On Monday, the Australian government signalled its support for the strike, and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the strike was a unilateral action by its security ally the United States, and Australia was joining calls from Britain and other countries for Iran to return to the negotiating table
Not long after, Foreign Minister Winston Peters issued a statement on X, giving tacit endorsement to the decision to bomb nuclear facilities.
The statement was also released just ahead of the NATO meeting in Brussels, which Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was attending.
Peters said Iran could not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and noted the United States' targeted attacks aimed at "degrading Iran's nuclear capabilities".
He went on to acknowledge the US statement to the United Nations Security Council saying the attack was "acting in collective self-defence consistent with the UN Charter".
Iranian New Zealander and lawyer Arman Askarany told RNZ it was a "complete joke" that New Zealand had acknowledged the US statement saying it was self-defence.
"It would be funny if it wasn't so horrific."
Askarany said it was a clear escalation by the US and Israel, and believed New Zealand was undermining the rules based order it purported to support.
He also accused the New Zealand government of showing "indifference" when it came to the Israeli strikes on Iran, which he said were "killing civilians" including children.
Askarany said the Israeli strikes were an "attack against Iran... an act of aggression and... violation of international law."
He called on New Zealand to "stop endorsing the narrative" of what he called a "war criminal", referencing the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants issued for Israel's President Benjamin Netanyahu.
When asked about these criticisms, a spokesperson for the Minister of Foreign Affairs told RNZ Israel and the United States acted based on their own assessment and information, which New Zealand wasn't involved in.
"We are not going enter into a legal discussion when the imperative is to urgently de-escalate and return to diplomacy."
Askarany acknowledged the calls for deescalation and for peace in the region, but said they were "abstract platitudes" if the agressor wasn't named.
He struggled with what he saw as "two different realities" - seeing stories in the New Zealand media about how this situation would impact petrol prices.
"And then I look at my phone and see people who look like me dying, and it's like it doesn't exist to this government and to many others.
Peters told Morning Report on Monday the government wanted to know all the facts before taking a position on the US strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Politicians at a crossroads
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour held his first post-cabinet media conference on Monday, in which he said nobody was calling on New Zealand to rush to a judgment on the rights and wrongs of the situation.
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour said New Zealand was not rushing to a judgment on the situation. Photo: NZME/Dean Purcell
He echoed the Foreign Minister's statement, saying "of course" New Zealand noted the US' assertion of the legality of their actions.
He also indicated, "like just about every country in the world, that we cannot have a nuclear armed Iran."
"That does not mean that we are rushing to form our own judgment on the rights or wrongs or legality of any action."
He insisted New Zealand was not sitting on the fence, but said "nor are we rushing to judgement."
"I believe the world is not sitting there waiting for New Zealand to give its position on the legality of the situation.
"What people do want to see is de escalation and dialogue, and most critically for us, the safety of New Zealanders in the region."
When asked about the Australian government's position, Seymour said New Zealand did not have the intelligence that other countries may have.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins called the attack by the US on Iran "very disappointing", "not justified" and "almost certainly" against international law.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said New Zealand needed to take a stronger stance. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
He wanted New Zealand to take a stronger stance on the issue.
"New Zealand should take a stronger position in condemning the attacks and saying that we do not believe they are justified, and we do not believe that they are consistent with international law."
Hipkins said the US had not made a case for the action taken, and they should step back and get back around the table with Iran.
The Green Party and Te Pāti Māori have both called on the government to condemn the attack by the US.
"The actions of the United States pose a fundamental threat to world peace.
"The rest of the world, including New Zealand, must take a stand and make it clear that this dangerous escalation is unacceptable," said Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson.
"We saw this with the US war on Iraq, and we are seeing it again with this recent attack on Iran. We are at risk of a violent history repeating itself."
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the government was remaining silent on Israel.
"When the US bombs Iran, Luxon calls it an 'opportunity'. But when Cook Islanders assert their sovereignty or Chinese vessels travel through international waters, he leaps to condemnation," said Waititi.
"Israel continues to maintain an undeclared nuclear arsenal. Yet this government won't say a word.
"It condemns non-Western powers at every turn but remains silent when its allies act with impunity."
International law experts weigh in
University of Waikato Professor Alexander Gillespie said it was "an illegal war" and the option of diplomacy should have been exhausted before the first strike.
As Luxon headed to NATO, Gillespie acknowledged it would be difficult for him to take a "hard line" on the issue, "because he's going to be caught up with the members and the partners of NATO."
He said the question would be whether NATO members accept there was a right of self-defence and whether the actions of the US and Israel were justified.
Gillespie said Helen Clark spoke very clearly in 2003 against the invasion of Iraq, but he couldn't see New Zealand's current Prime Minister saying that.
"That's not because they don't believe it, but because there would be a risk of a backhand from the United States.
"And we're spending a lot of time right now trying not to offend this Trump administration."
University of Otago Professor Robert Patman said the US strike on Iran would likely "make things worse" and set a precedent for "might is right."
University of Otago Professor Robert Patman said New Zealand should speak out. Photo: Provided
He said he had "no brief" for the repressive Iranian regime, but under international law it had been subject of "two illegal attacks in the last 10 days", from Israel and now from the US.
Patman said New Zealand had been guarded in its comments about the attacks on Iran, and believed the country should speak out.
"We have championed non nuclear security since the mid 80s. We were a key player, a leader, of the treaty to abolish nuclear weapons, and that now has 94 signatories."
He said New Zealand does have a voice and an expectation to contribute to an international debate that's beginning to unfold.
"We seem to be at a fork in the road moment internationally, we can seek to reinstate the idea that international relations should be based on rules, principles and procedures, or we can simply passively accept the erosion of that architecture, which is to the detriment of the majority of countries in the world."
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