Australia deploys military assets to safeguard citizens amid Middle East crisis

With over 3,200 Australians seeking evacuation assistance from Iran and Israel, the government mobilizes ADF and DFAT teams to secure safe departures

Canberra: The Australian government has deployed military assets to the Middle East amid escalating tensions to help evacuate its citizens from Iran and Israel. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has positioned personnel and aircraft in the region as part of contingency plans should the currently closed airspace reopen. “We are sending defence assets to help Australians. They are not there for combat,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said while addressing reporters in South Australia.

In a further move to support the evacuation efforts, a crisis response team from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is being dispatched to Azerbaijan. This team will assist Australians who manage to leave Iran without direct government aid. As of Friday, more than 2,000 Australian citizens in Iran and 1,200 in Israel have registered with DFAT for evacuation assistance. Wong strongly urged any Australian able to leave Iran safely to do so immediately, advising those who cannot or choose not to, to shelter in place.

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Amid the deteriorating security situation, the Australian government has suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran and ordered the departure of all officials and their dependents from Iran. However, the country’s Ambassador to Iran will remain in the region to coordinate and support the response to the crisis, supported further by consular staff scheduled for deployment to Azerbaijan.

In a related development, Italy has opted to maintain operations at its embassies in both Tehran and Tel Aviv while organizing charter flights for Italian nationals wishing to leave the conflict zones. Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces announced that it had carried out a series of overnight airstrikes in Tehran targeting sites linked to Iran’s missile and nuclear weapons programmes.