Source: Radio New Zealand
Foriegn Affairs Minister Winston Peters RNZ / Mark Papalii
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says there are thousands of New Zealanders whose plans have been disrupted by the current war between the US and Israel and Iran.
All sorts of contingencies to help them were being looked at but it was a complex situation, he told Morning Report.
SafeTravel said on Wednesday United Arab Emirates had partially reopened its air space.
There were limited flights operating from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
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It said there had so far been no official announcement on flights to Australia or New Zealand, but the NZ government were in contact with airline representatives to get urgent confirmation on the status of flights.
Spain and the United Kingdom have announced they are organising evacuation flights for their citizens while Australia has opened an emergency portal for its citizens.
Asked on Morning Report about possible evacuation flights for Kiwis Peters said the situation was “difficult”.
“We’re saying to people if you can get out, and if you are concerned, get out. If you can’t, then try and stay safe or stay inside where you are or make sure you have places that are safe most of the time.”
There were thousands of Kiwis in the region with not a great number registered on SafeTravel, he said.
Last time there was conflict in the Middle East a plane was sent, and within an hour of it landing “peace broke out” and noone got on the flight, Peters said.
“We’ve got all sorts of contingencies ready now – all aspects have been looked at. Obviously I’ve got to be confidential but Foreign Affairs is doing a superb job to do the maximum they can to help New Zealanders there.”
Peters said New Zealand was “talking to everybody” regarding Kiwis stranded by the conflict.
Regarding the negotiations that had been going on in Switzerland just before the weekend attacks, Peters said they had been “protracted” and that was why countries such as New Zealand could see the possibility of conflict and advised citizens to leave.
“We were saying that a long time before this war broke out.”
Not concerned about upsetting US
In an earlier statement, the government said New Zealand had consistently condemned Iran’s nuclear programme and its “destabilising activities” in the region and “acknowledged” the strikes.
Peters said he wasn’t worried about blowback from the United States if New Zealand expressed any criticism over the joint attacks with Israel on Iran.
Critics were commenting as if the current war was from a 1980s or 1990s setting.
“Everything’s changed dramatically. …It’s the most uncertain world since the Second World War.”
Legal experts would decide but in some situations such as the US-Israel attacks it became “a reprisal or retaliation” and the genesis to the current conflict was the earlier actions of Iran.
People had to understand countries were dealing with a group of “religious fanatics” in Iran. Their Arabic neighbours didn’t support Iran because it had been supporting various forms of terrorism for decades.
Critics had “rushed to judgement” over the legality of the US-Israel attacks, however, they had no answers to the way Iran was acting.
While critics referred to rules-based order, Iran had not been observing this and it had been exporting “continual chaos overseas”.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand