SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Sunday the French government would have known Canberra had “deep and grave concerns” about French submarines before the deal was torn up last week.
France is furious at Australia’s decision to withdraw from a multibillion-dollar deal to build French submarines in favor of American nuclear-powered vessels, recalling its ambassadors from Canberra and Washington and accusing its allies of “lying” about their plans.
Morrison said he understood the French government’s “disappointment” but said he had raised issues with the deal “some months ago,” as had other Australian government ministers.
“I think they would have had every reason to know that we had deep and grave concerns that the capability being delivered by the Attack Class submarine was not going to meet our strategic interests and we made very clear that we would be making a decision based on our strategic national interest,” he told a press conference in Sydney.
Morrison said it would have been “negligent” to proceed with the deal against intelligence and defense advice and that doing so would be counter to Australia’s strategic interests.
“I don’t regret the decision to put Australia’s national interest first. Never will,” he said.
Speaking to Sky News Australia earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Peter Dutton said his government had been “upfront, open and honest” with France that it had concerns about the deal, which was over-budget and years behind schedule.
Dutton said he understood the “French upset” but added that “suggestions that the concerns haven’t been flagged by the Australian government just defy, frankly, what’s on the public record and certainly what was said publicly over a long period of time.”
“The government has had those concerns, we’ve expressed them, and we want to work very closely with the French and we’ll continue to do that into the future,” he said.
Dutton said he had personally expressed those concerns to his French counterpart, Florence Parly, and highlighted Australia’s “need to act in our national interest,” which he said was acquiring the nuclear-powered submarines.
“And given the changing circumstances in the Indo-Pacific, not just now but over the coming years, we had to make a decision that was in our national interest and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” he added.
Canberra was unable to buy French nuclear-powered vessels because they require charging while the American submarines do not, making only the latter suitable for nuclear-free Australia, Dutton said.
With Australia’s new submarine fleet not expected to be operational for decades, Dutton said the country may consider leasing or buying existing submarines from the United States or Britain in the interim.
Australia will get the nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new defense alliance announced with the United States and Britain on Wednesday, in a pact widely seen as aimed at countering the rise of China.
Australia’s Scott Morrison: Canberra had ‘deep and grave concerns’ over French submarines
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Australia’s Scott Morrison: Canberra had ‘deep and grave concerns’ over French submarines
- France is furious at Australia’s decision to withdraw from a multibillion-dollar deal to build French submarines
- Canberra was unable to buy French nuclear-powered vessels because they require charging while the American submarines do not
Protests across globe mark one week of Iran war
- In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colors of the Iranian flags on their cheeks
- Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians
PARIS, France: Lion-emblazoned flags of pre-revolution Iran fluttered in cities across the world on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets a week after the start of the war in the Middle East.
Europe, Africa and the Americas saw demonstrations, with some protesting against Iran’s Islamic regime, others railing against the war, and some in support of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first US-Israeli strikes of the conflict.
Paris saw two demonstrations: one supporting the US-based Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah, to head up a transition, and another denouncing that scenario.
“I support Pahlavi who is calling for a revolution,” Masoud Ghanaatian, 35, a student, told AFP at a protest in southern Paris, where participants carried photos of the late shah’s son and waved US, Israeli and pre-revolution Iran flags.
“He’s a democrat. He can oversee a transition and promises to organize elections.”
Hundreds of pro-Pahlavi demonstrations also gathered in Stockholm, holding up pictures of him and his late father.
But farther north, protesters wearing yellow vests reading “Free Iran” showed off stickers on their hands that read “No Shah, no Mullah.”
In Amsterdam protesters snaked along one of the city’s canals, holding up Israeli, American and pre-revolution Iran flags, as they called on the government to invite Pahlavi to the country and to close the Iranian embassy.
In Israel, anti-war activists and police scuffled during a protest against eh war in HaBima Square in Tel Aviv.
Shortly after dawn in Britain, anti-war protesters gathered at the entrance of an air force base in Fairford, southwest of England, holding signs reading “Hands off Iran,” “Peace” and “Yanks go home.”
- ‘Assassins’ -
A demonstrations against the war also took place in Cyprus.
Outside the US consulate in Mexico City, protesters carried a placard with pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with blood-soaked palms over the word “Assassins” and kicked pinatas with images of the two leaders.
In the United States, protesters carried Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags and signs “Iran is not our enemy” and “No war on Iran” in downtown Detroit, Michigan.
In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colors of the Iranian flags on their cheeks.
In Boston, Iranian Americans gathered at Copley Square to call for the fall of the Islamic republic.
In South Africa — which has dragged Israel to International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide during the Gaza war, a charge Israel denies — dozens gathered in front of the US consulate in Johannesburg, holding up photos of Khamenei, the Islamic republic’s flag and signs bashing Israel.
Protesters carried pictures of Khamenei and denounced the war in central Tunis in Tunisia.
In Cape Town, Iranian pro-democracy activists and supporters of Israel waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans in the Albert Waterfront shopping mall.
Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians.
