(Fixes typo in headline)
SYDNEY, March 6 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that three Australian defence personnel were on board a United States submarine that sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo in the Indian Ocean, but stressed they did not take part in the attack.
The strike, which occured off the southern coast of Sri Lanka this week, marked the first time since World War Two that the United States has sunk an enemy vessel with a torpedo. Sri Lankan authorities recovered the bodies of 87 sailors.
* Albanese told Sky News the Australians were on board aspart of training linked to the AUKUS defence pact betweenAustralia, the U.S. and Britain, designed to help Australiaacquire and build nuclear-powered submarines. * No Australian personnel have participated in any offensiveaction against Iran, Albanese said. * “These are long-standing third country arrangements thathave been in place for a long period of time,” Albanese said. * Australia, a close U.S. ally, has ruled out any militaryrole in the conflict, but has said it would support effortsaimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. * The conflict in the Middle East escalated on Thursday,with with U.S. and Israeli jets hitting multiple areas acrossIran, while Gulf cities came under renewed bombardment.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
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