SYDNEY: Australia will send a surveillance aircraft to the Middle East and supply the United Arab Emirates with advanced air-to-air missiles to defend against Iranian attacks and keep local airspace open in order to help stranded Australians return home.
The UAE alone has shot down more than 1,500 rockets and drones since Iran began targeting states around the Persian Gulf, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pic) and Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a statement. The rising wave of dangerous and destabilising attacks puts civilians at risk, they said.
Australia will deploy an E-7A Wedgetail spy plane, carrying 85 personnel, which will be operational by the end of the week, Marles told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday (March 9).
The Wedgetail is expected to be deployed for an initial four weeks and provide long range reconnaissance capability to help secure Gulf airspace.
"What this aircraft will be doing is very similar to the role that it has played in recent times from Poland in respect of the defense of Ukraine,” Marles said. Australia will supply the UAE with Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles.
The US-Israeli attack on Iran and the Islamic Republic’s counterstrikes are reverberating globally, snarling energy supplies and pushing oil prices above US$100 a barrel while grounding air transport. Iran has targeted Israel and Gulf states, widening a conflict that’s drawn over a dozen nations into the fray.
On Monday, President Donald Trump said the Iran campaign will "end soon,” though not this week, adding that the military operation was ahead of schedule. Meantime, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Tehran will only end the conflict if it’s assured it won’t be attacked again.
Albanese and Marles reiterated that Australia will not send ground troops to Iran and that its involvement is solely for defensive purposes.
"These are defensive weapons and I want to make that clear,” Marles said.
"That is the basis upon which our personnel are being deployed and this equipment is being deployed. It is for the defense of the countries of the Gulf, in particular, UAE, where there are significant numbers of Australians.”
About 115,000 Australians are in the Middle East, including roughly 24,000 in the UAE, fuelling what officials describe as an unprecedented consular challenge.
Australia has also granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian female soccer players who sought asylum, citing fears for their safety after they declined to sing the national anthem during a match on the Gold Coast last week.
The prime minister and defence minister said in their statement that Australia has supported action aimed at preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and preventing it from continuing to threaten peace and security.
"Our position remains that we do not want to see the conflict continue to escalate,” they said.
"We call on all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and to protect civilian life.” - Bloomberg
