SYDNEY: Australia has ordered all non-essential officials in Israel and the United Arab Emirates to leave due to the "deteriorating security situation", Canberra's top diplomat said.
In a post on X late Thursday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong (pic) said that "essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it".
The Australian government continued to advise that its citizens not travel to Israel and the UAE, she added.
"We urge you to leave the Middle East if you can and if it's safe to do so," she said.
"Don't wait until it's too late. It may be the last chance for some time."
Canberra has said there are about 115,000 Australian nationals across the Middle East, of whom about 2,600 have returned home.
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered a war in the Middle East.
Iran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf states like the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.
Officials said 14 people had been killed in Israel since the start of the Iran war, while attacks in the Gulf have killed 24, including 11 civilians and seven US military personnel.
Inside Iran, its health ministry said this week that more than 1,200 people have been killed. Hundreds more people have died in Lebanon.
Australia backed the US-Israeli strikes as necessary to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
And Canberra said this week it would deploy a long-range military reconnaissance plane to the Gulf to protect civilians. - AFP
