By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
The Albanese government has backed the American strike on Iran, while confirming Australia was not given prior warning.
Federal cabinet’s national security committee met early Sunday. Although supporting what has been done, the government is emphasising Australia is not a central player in Middle East issues.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after the death of Ayatollah Khamenei was confirmed that “his passing will not be mourned.”
In a joint statement, Albanese, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “It has long been recognised…
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By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Australian National University; The University of Western Australia; Victoria University
The joint US–Israel strikes on Iran, which killed the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel and neighbouring Arab countries have again plunged the Middle East into war.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said their aim is to bring about a favourable regime change in Iran. The implications of this for Iran, the region…
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By Tim Vogel, Researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Zoryana Olekseyuk, Economist and senior researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) was introduced in 2000 as the cornerstone of US development-oriented trade policy towards sub-Saharan Africa. It was designed to grant eligible countries duty-free access to the US market.
In February 2026, President Donald Trump signed a one-year extension after the programme lapsed in September 2025.
Yet…
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By Kristof Titeca, Professor in International Development, University of Antwerp
Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), remains at large two decades after the International Criminal Court issued its first arrest warrants against him and four of his commanders.
The LRA emerged nearly 40 years ago. Between 1987 and 2006, northern Uganda’s civilians were caught between LRA brutality – massacres and mass abductions – and a government counterinsurgency. This forced nearly two million people into…
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By Tiaan de Jager, Director: UP Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, University of Pretoria
Taneshka Kruger, UP ISMC: Project Manager and Coordinator, University of Pretoria
When floods sweep through southern Africa, the most visible damage is immediate: homes washed away, crops destroyed, clinics disrupted, families displaced. These images dominate headlines and humanitarian appeals.
But as floodwaters recede, a quieter, slower-moving…
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By Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
President Trump has appealed to Iranians to topple their government, but a popular uprising is unlikely to defeat current leadership or the Revolutionary Guards, a former US diplomat says.
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By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years, has been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes on his country, Iranian state media reported.
As one of Iran’s longest-serving leaders, Khamenei was almost as ubiquitous in Iranian society as his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.
And despite the fact Khomeini authored the Iranian Revolution, some say Khamenei was actually the most powerful leader modern…
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By Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast
Juan Zahir Naranjo Cáceres, PhD Candidate, Political Science, International Relations and Constitutional Law, University of the Sunshine Coast
The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran represent a further erosion of the international legal order. Under international law, these attacks are neither preemptive nor lawful.
Israel and the United States launched Operation Shield of Judah and Operation Epic Fury while diplomatic negotiations…
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By Digital Storytelling Team, The Conversation
The US and Israel have launched joint coordinated attacks on Iran, prompting retaliatory strikes from Iran on Israel and US military bases in the region.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years, has…
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By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years, has been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes on his country, according to US President Donald Trump. Iran did not immediately confirm his death.
As one of Iran’s longest-serving leaders, Khamenei has been almost as ubiquitous in Iranian society as his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979.
And despite the fact Khomeini authored the Iranian Revolution, some…
(Full Story)
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