Jo Robertson, parenting specialist, and Kiwi filmmaker Oscar Kightley talk about the latest issues. Video / Ryan Bridge TODAY
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has responded to critics of the Government’s position on whether the United States and Israel have acted illegally by attacking Iran, saying the world is facing “new circumstances”.
He told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning that “serious international legal experts” should decide whether the initialstrikes on Iran were legal - not people who were “not qualified”, including former PM Helen Clark, who has called New Zealand’s response “a disgrace”.
Peters was speaking from Argentina, where he met yesterday with President Javier Milei.
Terrorism had been growing out of Iran for 47 years, he said - pointing to the deaths of more than 80 people in Buenos Aires “at the very time Helen Clark was saying we live in a benign geostrategic environment”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters pictured speaking to media after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on Sunday. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Peters appeared to be referring to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, which Argentina’s criminal court ruled was carried out by Hezbollah.
“The rule of law on the streets of Auckland is the same as the rule of law internationally. To make it stand, somebody has to enforce it,” Peters said.
“Some countries are kicking back and saying no, we are dealing with a bunch of religious fanatics and they cannot be trusted.”
But he denied he was backing America whether or not the country’s actions were legal.
“[Iran] have been financing proxies all around the world, even as far as Australia, in major terrorist activities. They’ve been doing it for decades.
“But all of a sudden now you’ve got a sort of a concertina of concern where some countries are saying enough, we are going to stop you right here, right now.
“And then all of a sudden all those geostrategic experts in history and what have you in foreign affairs are saying, oh, we should have the rule of law,” he said.
“Well, my point is you’re not looking at the same circumstances now. It’s not a matter of backing anybody or opposing anyone. We are facing new circumstances … and we have to look at them with new eyes.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appearing on Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast on Tuesday. Photo / Michael Craig
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon earlier hit back at Clark’s comments, telling Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB it was “up to the Americans and the Israelis to assert”, after he was asked whether the strikes were legal.
“I noticed that the UN Security Council invoked Article 51 as the basis for the attacks that they’ve launched, but let’s be under no illusion, this was not a regime that New Zealand has supported or been in favour of for decades under successive governments,” Luxon told Hosking on Monday.
“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.”
