Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey with
Speaker 1: the Front's afternoon headlines. America's not running out of AMMO,
Speaker 1: but Iran is. That's the forceful message from United States
Speaker 1: Secretary of War Pete Hegsaf, who addressed reporters on Thursday
Speaker 1: in the wake of reports America's arsenal was running low.
Speaker 2: America is winning decisively, devastatingly, and without mercy. They are
Speaker 2: toast and they know it.
Speaker 1: US Central Command says Iran's missile launchers have dropped by
Speaker 1: eighty six percent and its drone launches by seventy three
Speaker 1: percent in four days. Central Command released spectacular footage it
Speaker 1: said was shot from a submarine periscope showing a torpedo
Speaker 1: sinking an Iranian vessel off the Sri Lankan coast, one
Speaker 1: of nearly two dozen Iranian Navy ships. Sent Com says
Speaker 1: it has sunk. There are reports Iran's ballistic missile manufacturing
Speaker 1: physilicies have been damaged by US and Israeli strikes, and
Speaker 1: that Iran's existing missile stocks are declining. Hexceth didn't seem
Speaker 1: concerned by critics who say America doesn't have justification in
Speaker 1: US or international law for the strikes. Under America's constitution,
Speaker 1: the president commands the armed forces, but only Congress can
Speaker 1: declare war. Donald Trump hasn't attempted to have Congress declare
Speaker 1: a war, although his Republicans dominate both chambers at present.
Speaker 1: In international law, the United Nations Charter says states have
Speaker 1: a right to self defense in response to an armed attack.
Speaker 1: America has a veto power in the UN Security Council,
Speaker 1: so doesn't need to worry about a resolution declaring its
Speaker 1: war illegal, and both the US and Israel have repeatedly
Speaker 1: said Iran's prior attacks on Israel and on America over
Speaker 1: recent years constitute an armed attack, and that its plans
Speaker 1: for a nuclear weapon and further strikes on Israel amount
Speaker 1: to an imminent threat. Some international law experts say that
Speaker 1: would also make Operation Epic Fury legal.
Speaker 2: This was never meant to be a fair fight, and
Speaker 2: it is not a fair fight. We are punching them
Speaker 2: while they're down, which is exactly how it should be.
Speaker 2: Iran negotiated in bad faith, stalling, scheming and preparing to strike,
Speaker 2: and we acted decisively to defend our people, our interests,
Speaker 2: and our allies. President Trump took bold action, putting America first,
Speaker 2: the kind of bold action that the American people elected
Speaker 2: him to execute. To our steadfast partner, Israel, your mission
Speaker 2: is being executed with unmatched skill and iron determination. Fighting
Speaker 2: shoulder to shoulder with such a capable ally is a
Speaker 2: true force multiplier and a breath of fresh air.
Speaker 1: That's a swipe at Britain and the other European countries
Speaker 1: whom the US has accused of failing to spend enough
Speaker 1: on defense. Trump has forcefully attacked British Prime Minister Kirstarma
Speaker 1: for failing to allow US forces to use British bases.
Speaker 1: Another three planeloads of Australians stranded in the Middle East
Speaker 1: are expected to land in Australia in the coming hours.
Speaker 1: That's after two hundred people touched down in Sydney on
Speaker 1: Thursday morning.
Speaker 3: I'm sure that Australians who were able to touch down
Speaker 3: on their home soil felt very relieved to be home.
Speaker 3: Now I confirm that right now another flight EK four
Speaker 3: one four is in the air with over two hundred
Speaker 3: Australians on board, and we are hopeful of more flights
Speaker 3: being in the air today, which is what we want.
Speaker 3: To see.
Speaker 1: Anthony Albanezi also confirmed the deployment of Australian military assets
Speaker 1: to the region during question time.
Speaker 3: The government is deploying six crisis response teams to the
Speaker 3: region and we've already deployed military assets as part of
Speaker 3: our contingency planning earlier this week. I think those Australians
Speaker 3: who are going into a dangerous situation in order to
Speaker 3: help their fellow Australians caught up in this conflict.
Speaker 1: Check out those stories live right now at the Australian
Speaker 1: dot com dot au and come back to the front
Speaker 1: first thing in the morning for analysis of the Iranian
Speaker 1: conflict by The Australian's inimitable Foreign editor, Greg Sheridan.