Iranian strikes hit near Australian airbase in UAE, Albanese confirms | Australian military

An Iranian shell hit near Australia’s headquarters at Al Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates, damaging an accommodation block and a medical facility.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed no Australian personnel were injured in the attack at 9.15am (AEDT) on Wednesday morning.

While Albanese maintained Australia was not at war, he could not confirm whether Iran had directly targeted the Al Minhad base.

The Prime Minister said, “The Iranian regime is carrying out random attacks throughout the region. We know that this is the case.”

The federal government last week announced it would send a special surveillance plane and a stockpile of air-to-air missiles to the UAE to protect Australians in the Gulf state targeted by Tehran in retaliation for US and Israeli bombing of Iran.

Australia has maintained a smaller force at Al Minhad air base since the end of operations in Afghanistan. Defense said last year there were about 50 core ADF personnel at the base at any one time and a total of 70 to 80 Australians.

Early in the conflict, the same base was also hit by a drone attack.

Albanese said the shell hit a road leading to the base, sparking a fire that damaged the accommodation block and medical facility.

Asked directly whether Australia was at war, Albanese said “no” and refused to elaborate.

Albanese confirmed the latest attacks, refusing to criticize Donald Trump after the president claimed the US never needed help from allies including Australia to fight the war in Iran.

By contrast, Liberal frontbencher and military veteran Andrew Hastie, in a rare direct rebuke of the president by a member of either major party, said Trump’s outburst was “petulant” and “unlike how allies are treated.”

The US president was demanding that US allies send warships to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks that triggered the latest conflict in the Middle East.

The shutdown caused the largest oil supply disruption in history and sent commodity prices soaring worldwide.

In his post on social media, Trump said that most “allies” in NATO have stated that they will not provide direct aid to the United States.

The president claimed that because the United States had achieved such “military success” in Iran, it “will no longer ‘need’ or desire assistance from NATO countries – WE NEVER DID.”

“Likewise, Japan, Australia or South Korea,” he shared. Real Social social media platform.

“Speaking as the President of the United States of America, by far the most powerful country in the world, WE DON’T NEED ANYONE’S HELP!”

The Australian government confirmed on Tuesday that it would not send a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and had not received a request to do so.

Appearing on ABC’s RN Breakfast show on Wednesday morning, Hastie was asked about his reaction to Trump’s post.

“I thought this was a cranky post from a president under great pressure,” he said.

“One of the most important parts of the relationship is reciprocity — we’re long-time allies of the United States, we’ve fulfilled our obligations within that alliance framework, we have a proud history — and I don’t think that’s how you treat allies. I think that’s more a reflection of his character than it is of us.”

Hastie supported the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran and believes the federal government’s decision to help defend the United Arab Emirates is in the national interest.

But the former Special Air Service soldier, a veteran of the Afghanistan conflict, is skeptical of attempts to create regime change in other countries.

Hastie publicly criticized Trump for the second time after he strongly rejected the president’s claim that allied troops were “a little behind” from the front lines in Afghanistan. Trump later retracted the comments.

Albanese declined to weigh in on Trump or Hastie’s comments when asked Wednesday.

“Andrew Hastie can speak for himself. What I do is establish diplomatic relations with leaders all over the world,” he said.

Hastie noted that the US did not consult Australia before launching the attacks, although he was confident the alliance would withstand the shock of the Trump administration.

“This is a very unique president in American history, in global history, and he’s approaching two years in office this November. This is his second and final term, and I’m confident that that relationship will continue no matter who sits in the Oval Office,” he said.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, a long-time Trump critic, said the president’s latest comments showed he had “no respect” for his allies.

“This underlines the importance of Australia being more independent, exercising our own sovereignty and recognizing that the path we’ve been on since the Morrison government of becoming more and more dependent on the United States is absolutely the wrong path, because we’re making ourselves more dependent on the United States at a time when the United States is less reliable,” Turnbull said.

In a separate interview on the ABC’s RN Breakfast programme, treasurer Jim Chalmers dismissed Trump’s comments by reiterating that Australia had not received a formal request for naval assistance.