Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said air-to-air missiles and a reconnaissance plane will be sent to the region amid the conflict with Iran.
Posted on March 10, 2026
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia will deploy a long-range reconnaissance aircraft and send air-to-air missiles to help countries in the Gulf region defend themselves against Iranian attacks.
“The Iranian conflict in the Middle East began just over a week ago, and Iran's retaliatory attacks continue to escalate, already at a scale and depth we have not seen before. Twelve countries in the region, from Cyprus to the Gulf, continue to be attacked,” Albanese said at a press conference on Tuesday.
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He said the Royal Australian Air Force will send an E7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft and support personnel to “protect and secure the airspace over the Gulf” for the next four weeks, and assist the region with its “collective self-defence”.
Australia will also send advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles to the UAE, he said, following a phone call with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Albanese cited the 115,000 Australians living in the Middle East – including 24,000 in the United Arab Emirates – as a major factor behind the deployment of military assets.
“Helping the Australians also means helping the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations defend themselves against unprovoked attacks,” he told reporters, stressing that the deployments were for defensive purposes only.
“My government has been clear: we are not taking offensive action against Iran, and we are clear that we are not going to deploy Australian troops on the ground in Iran,” he said.
Some 2,600 Australians have left the Middle East since last week, Albanese said, but “significant challenges” remain in helping those who want to leave but remain in the region.
The prime minister's announcement was immediately criticized by the opposition Greens party, which said Australia risks being embroiled in another “forever war” led by the United States.
Australia joined the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003, and lost more than 50 people during the conflicts, according to the Australian War Memorial.
Greens senator Larissa Waters said she feared more Australian lives were at risk with the announced deployments, which the Labor Party-led government said would be accompanied by 85 Australian staff.
“Australians do not want to be dragged into Trump and Netanyahu's illegal war against Iran. Labor should not send troops to help an army that killed 150 schoolchildren in a primary school bombing. That will only escalate an illegal conflict that is already out of control and leave Australia trapped in another war forever,” Waters said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Every day Trump and Netanyahu's demands on Australia continue to grow. Yesterday they refueled American spy planes, today a reconnaissance plane and missiles, and tomorrow there could be more troops. Labor has no red lines when it comes to appeasing Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu,” he said, referring to the American president and the Israeli prime minister, respectively.
Albanese said separately on Tuesday that Canberra has formally granted asylum to five members of Iran's women's football team, who were visiting Australia for the 2026 Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup in Queensland.
Albanese said the women had been issued humanitarian visas and were moved to safety with the help of the Australian Federal Police.
“Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women. They are safe here and should feel at home,” Albanese told reporters.
