Sydney, March 10, 2026 – The Europe Today: Australia will deploy a military surveillance aircraft to the Middle East and supply missiles to the United Arab Emirates, but will not send ground troops to Iran, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday.
Albanese said Australia’s military assistance aims to help Gulf countries defend themselves against what he described as unprovoked attacks from Iran, emphasizing that Canberra is not directly involved in the conflict.
“Our involvement is purely defensive,” the prime minister told reporters. “It is in defence of Australians who are in the region as well as in defence of our friends in the United Arab Emirates.”
According to Albanese, Australia will deploy one of its Boeing-manufactured E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control system aircraft for an initial period of four weeks to help protect airspace over Gulf countries.
He added that advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles would also be supplied to the United Arab Emirates following a phone conversation with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The conflict in the region has significantly disrupted maritime traffic, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global energy chokepoint through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass.
Australian authorities said approximately 115,000 Australians were in the Middle East when the conflict began 11 days ago. So far, around 2,600 citizens have returned home on commercial flights as several Gulf cities came under Iranian bombardment.
