US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran, vowing to order further military strikes on the country's nuclear facilities if Tehran resumes its nuclear weapons program. Speaking from the White House on Friday, Trump declared he would “without question, absolutely” consider additional military action should Iran restart its nuclear ambitions. Some nations, however, has started evacuating their people from Iran, including Australia. According to ABC News, the warning comes as the number of Australians and their family members registered with Australia’s Department of Foreign Af

US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Iran, vowing to order further military strikes on the country's nuclear facilities if Tehran resumes its nuclear weapons program. Speaking from the White House on Friday, Trump declared he would “without question, absolutely” consider additional military action should Iran restart its nuclear ambitions. Some nations, however, has started evacuating their people from Iran, including Australia. According to ABC News, the warning comes as the number of Australians and their family members registered with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Iran has grown to over 3,200, according to officials. After Israel began air raids on Iranian targets in mid-June, DFAT moved swiftly to evacuate its diplomatic staff from Tehran to neighboring Azerbaijan. Some Australians attempted to flee Iran by crossing the border into Azerbaijan but were turned away due to missing documentation, including a mandatory special code. DFAT confirmed late Friday that the backlog of requests for these border crossing codes had been cleared. DFAT is now assisting Australians seeking to leave Iran with securing seats on limited commercial flights that have resumed operations. Meanwhile, the US has issued a security alert stating that Iranian airspace has “partially reopened,” though warned of possible disruptions in commercial travel from major cities such as Tehran.

Disillusionment Among Iranian Australians

Melbourne resident Maryam, whose mother and brother remain in Iran, expressed deep concern about the escalating conflict and its potential to devastate lives.

“The possibility of war would take everything away,” she said. “You worry about what would happen to them and just how we could support them in all of this.”

Maryam’s mother, who is not an Australian citizen and currently holds no valid visa, is unable to register for emergency assistance through DFAT’s crisis portal, which is limited to citizens and their immediate family members. Maryam also criticized Australia's political stance, particularly its support for US military actions against Iran. “I think every Iranian I talk to, they felt very disillusioned,” she said. “You're working here. You're paying tax. We are trying to contribute to this society.” According to Home Affairs data, there are over 85,000 Iranian-born residents living in Australia. Soroush, a civil engineer who works fly-in fly-out jobs in Western Australia, recently returned from Iran via Turkey after cutting short a visit to see his family. He described a chaotic escape from Tehran to the Turkish border and said limited internet access in Iran hindered his efforts to register for help with DFAT. “I couldn't even phone my friends to tell them to do this for me,” he said. “When I decided to exit from Turkey, I thought, ‘if I get stuck somewhere, I will continue registering’.”

War of Words Escalates

As a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Iran continues to hold, rhetoric between Washington and Tehran has intensified. President Trump dismissed comments from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who warned the US against future attacks and claimed that Iran had "won the war" with Israel. In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned Trump's remarks in a post on social media platform X. He said any future nuclear agreement would require the US to abandon what he called a “disrespectful tone” toward Iran’s leadership. “If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,” Araghchi wrote. Meanwhile, Tehran rejected a request from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to inspect sites bombed by US and Israeli forces, alleging that the request was politically motivated and lacked impartial intent.

ABC News

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