NZ not in a position to pass judgement on Iran attacks, Luxon says

Monday, 2 March 2026

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says New Zealand “is not best placed” to pass judgement on the attacks that the US and Israel launched on Iran over the weekend, but he would support “any actions” that would stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Luxon faced questioning about New Zealand’s response to the strikes, after declining to say whether the Government explicitly supported them during his regular media rounds on Monday morning.

Speaking at the post-Cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon, Luxon said New Zealand was “not party or proxy” to intelligence held by the Americans and Israelis that might have influenced their decision to launch strikes. It would be up to those countries to explain the legality of their actions, he said.

“The US and Israel have their own deep information networks in this region. We are not central to this region, we are a long, long way away from it. They have made an assessment … about the legal basis for this attack, but also for the rationale for doing this attack.”

His next statement went a step further.

“All I can say, zooming out, is that as New Zealand we have had a long-standing commitment under successive governments that any actions that stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is a good thing.”

Reporters were quick to query that comment, asking how far the prime minister was prepared to go. Would he support the US and Israel in carpet bombing the country to stop it from getting the bomb?

Luxon said that was a hypothetical question, and repeated his criticism of the Iranian regime.

“New Zealand has long supported actions to prevent Iran getting access to a nuclear weapons. New Zealand has long supported actions to ensure that Iran does not oppress and kill its own people. We have long supported actions that are making sure Iran does not fund terrorists. These have been long-standing positions of NZ governments,” he said.

But Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he was “shocked” by the prime minister’s comments.

“That does not reflect the position that success New Zealand governments have taken,” he said. “Successive New Zealand governments have had significant concern about the Iranian regime, but that does not justify any action, particularly when it breaches international law.”

Hipkins said Labour does not support the US and Israel’s strikes, and the Government should be calling for a return to a rules-based order.

“International rules still matter. New Zealand has been very clear and consistent in condemning the actions of the Iranian government … but that does not justify simply ripping up the international rulebook.”

He said there was a need for a return to diplomacy and institutions like the United Nations.

‘We acknowledge’ US and Israeli actions

This all comes after the Government faced earlier criticism for choosing to neither expressly condemn nor support the strikes on Iran, instead using the phrase “we acknowledge that the actions taken … by the US and Israel were designed to prevent Iran from continuing to threaten international peace and security.”

That differed from the statements released by the Australian and Canadian governments, which both said they “support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”.

Luxon said he did not think he could be any clearer with his answers, but said the wording of New Zealand’s statement was different because we are an independent nation with our own independent foreign policy.

“I would just say to you when you look at what the Australian Foreign Minister has said, and subsequent conversations even with the Prime Minister of Australia, they’re saying pretty much the same thing,” he said.

“They’re saying that we understand the reasons for this, why this has happened, and they also don’t want to see Iran ever with a nuclear weapon. But they also acknowledge they cannot talk to it because they are not proxy to the inside information that Israel or the US had.”

Legal basis for the attacks unclear

This comes as the Associated Press has reported US intelligence did not include any indication that Iran was preparing a pre-emptive strike before the joint US-Israeli attack.

Two people familiar with briefings for congressional staff told AP that “intelligence pointed instead to a broader regional threat from Iran’s missiles and proxy forces, not an immediate attack,” the agency reported.

That assessment contrasts with US President Donald Trump’s claim that the strikes were aimed at eliminating “imminent threats” from Iran.

Military, diplomatic personnel all safe, Luxon confirmed

Meanwhile all New Zealand’s military and and diplomatic personnel in the region are safe, Luxon said.

That came after the NZ Defence Force confirmed to Stuff that no New Zealanders were injured in a strike against a US military base that houses about a dozen Royal New Zealand Navy personnel.

Iran successfully launched a “kamikaze drone” against the United States Fifth Fleet base in Manama, Bahrain. The military base also hosts the Combined Maritime Forces command centre, where about a dozen NZDF personnel are deployed.

A spokesperson said that there are about 60 NZDF personnel currently deployed across the Middle East. These include liaison officers in Jordan as part of a intelligence operation targeting Isis and terrorist groups, as well as military observers in Lebanon and Egypt, bordering Israel.

As for Kiwi civilians in the region, more than 1700 are registered with Safe Travel but Luxon said he expects there will be more.

Those stranded in the area should follow local advice and shelter in place, he said.