“It’s a regime that’s brutally repressing its own people ... murdering tens of thousands of people. It’s one that’s actually been arming proxies and terrorism all around the world, and we’ve had years of diplomacy to try and manage the nuclear programme and the ballistic missile programme as well, and to no effect.
“So, you know, we won’t be mourning the loss of this leader.”
His comments follow sweeping strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, which reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior regime figures.
Iran has since launched retaliatory missile attacks targeting regional rivals and US military bases.
Luxon and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters issued a joint statement condemning “in the strongest terms” Iran’s “indiscriminate” retaliatory attacks. The statement did not directly criticise the initial US and Israeli action.
Asked if he supported the strikes, Luxon said he understood the rationale behind them, arguing they were aimed at stopping Iran, which he described as a threat to global peace and security.
Clark, posting on Instagram, argued the attacks were illegal under international law in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States or Israel.
“In the absence of an imminent threat to the security of the United States and Israel, their armed attacks on Iran are illegal under international law. They have no legitimate claim to invoking a right of self defence,” she wrote.
“The statement on the attacks on Iran by the New Zealand Government therefore is a disgrace. It knows full well that international law has been breached even though negotiations on Iran’s nuclear capability were underway. It knows that [the US] walked away from the last nuclear agreement with Iran. Why the servility? I guess we know.”
Clark also wrote: “The Iranian regime is a vicious theocracy which has caused huge trauma to its people. But that isn’t a reason for a breach of Iran’s sovereignty.”
Responding directly to Clark’s criticism, Luxon said: “I think she called my post disgraceful. I’d say what is disgraceful is a regime that actually kills its own people indiscriminately in the way that it has.”
Luxon also emphasised New Zealand had not been consulted ahead of the strikes.
He added: “This is an evil regime ... New Zealand has condemned this regime for a long period of time.”
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.
