Australia provides defence assistance to UAE, protects citizens
Australia will deploy a plane, weapons and 85 Australian soldiers to the Middle East after the Gulf country, which is under attack from a besieged Iran, called for help from the United Arab Emirates.
E-7A Wedgetail and advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles will be used to defend the Emirates at the request of Abu Dhabi, Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday.
He said there were 24,000 Australians staying in the UAE and most of them would depart from Dubai airport to return. The airport has been targeted repeatedly since the conflict began, causing flights to be canceled and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong describing it as Australia’s worst ever consular crisis.
“Wedgetail will provide a long-range reconnaissance capability that will help protect and secure airspace over the Gulf,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra, adding that it would be deployed for the “first four weeks”.
“Iran’s retaliatory attacks continue to escalate at a scale and depth we have not seen before.”
The Prime Minister was quick to offer rhetorical support for US-Israeli attacks on Iran last week, but has since insisted Australia played no role. Tuesday’s move directly embroiled Australia as the conflict widened; Iran’s furious response to the killing of its supreme leader has expanded to attack 12 neighboring countries that host US bases or embassies.
Albanese again ruled out sending troops to Iran but refused to say whether he was considering another intervention as the conflict continues to spiral.
“My government has been clear that we are not taking offensive action against Iran, and we have been clear that we are not deploying Australian troops in Iran,” he said.
“We are not heroes. What we do is to ensure the defense of the UAE and Australian citizens.”
Defense Minister Richard Marles said the plane would depart today, be operational in the Middle East by the end of the week, and perform a similar function to the planes deployed in Poland to protect Ukraine.
“We are one of the leading countries in the use of the E7, and the E7 is one of the most technologically advanced aerial and reconnaissance platforms.”
Speaking alongside Albanese, Marles said the UAE had one of the largest populations of Australian expats and was making its case in the national interest.
Albanese said crisis response teams were already on the ground to provide consular support and more than 2,600 of the more than 11,000 Australians who indicated they wanted to leave had returned safely. He appealed to everyone who offers a seat on the plane to take it.
“Significant challenges remain and further work is being done to support those who still wish to leave.”
Albanese said that night with US President Donald Trump, “we talked primarily about the Iranian football team, but of course we also discussed world events.”
“It was a warm conversation between President Trump and me,” Albanese said, but he declined to elaborate on what they said about the conflict, including whether Trump believed it would end.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the situation was unprecedented.
“Iran attacked 12 countries and we saw these attacks escalate overnight,” he said.
“Dubai Airport has come under attack from Iranian missiles and drones in recent days, and since February 28, more than 27,000 flights to and from the Middle East have been canceled and an estimated 4.4 million aircraft seats have been removed from the schedule.”
More to follow
Brittany Busch is the federal politics correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
