Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is monitoring reports of a helicopter that crashed with Iran’s president on board.
The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian crashed as it was crossing mountainous terrain in heavy fog.
A rescue operation is under way but has been hampered by poor weather.
Mr Albanese said he had been keeping track of news of the helicopter crash.
“We’ve seen the reports, there’s little more that I can add to those reports at this time,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
“The reports indicated that a helicopter carrying the Iranian president and the foreign minister has not arrived at its destination.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has sought to provide calm following the crash, saying there would be no disruption to governance.
US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the crash, while the European Union has offered satellite mapping technology to help with the search.
Research fellow at Macquarie University Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who spent more than 800 days in an Iranian jail on false espionage charges, said there would be some levels of continuity but also uncertainty for leadership.
“It’s going to destabilise and shake up Iranian politics, irrespective of the fact that the guy on top, Ali Khamenei, remains in power,” Dr Moore-Gilbert told Sky News.
“It would have quite a destabilising effect in that you would see a power struggle emerge amongst various hardliners as to who will succeed Ebrahim Raisi, but it’s also throwing the succession to Ali Khamenei into question.”
Mr Albanese indicated Australia had been working with allied countries on efforts to de-escalate tensions in Iran in an effort to prevent conflict in the Middle East from spreading.
Iran and Israel have traded missiles in recent months as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been launching strikes on targets in the nearby Red Sea.
“We’re very much focused on de-escalation, we want to continue to work as we have been, with the international community to increase pressure on Iran to cease its destabilising actions,” Mr Albanese said.
“We have been very much focused on wanting to see the conflict in the Middle East to stop it from spreading and to see de-escalation in region.”
This post was originally published on Michael West.