Australia deploys aircraft to Middle East as analyst warns ‘we’re now part of this war’

Australia will deploy a surveillance aircraft, missiles and 85 Australian troops after a plea for help from the United Arab Emirates as the Gulf state endures strikes from Iran, a move analysts said tied Australia more directly into the war in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the E-7A Wedgetail and advanced air-to-air missiles would be used to defend the UAE at the request of Abu Dhabi.

The government emphasised that Australian forces would exclusively be used for defensive purposes, limiting its support in the face of calls from the Greens and Labor figures, including Bob Carr, to remain neutral.

“The Wedgetail will provide long-range reconnaissance capability, which will help to protect and secure the airspace above the Gulf,” Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra, adding it would be deployed for an initial four weeks.

“Iran’s reprisal attacks continue to escalate, already at a scale and depth we haven’t seen before.”

“Our involvement is purely defensive, and it’s in defence of Australians who are in the region, as well as in defence of our friends in the United Arab Emirates … and Australians.”

Defence analyst Michael Shoebridge said the goal of protecting Australian troops at Al Minhad gave Labor, which opposed Australia’s involvement in Iraq in 2003, a narrow and clear justification for getting involved in the conflict.

Shoebridge warned that the government’s hope to adopt a defensive posture was complicated because Iran would not differentiate between combatants.

“We’re best just admitting to ourselves that we’re now a part of this war, not just sitting in some quarantined corner,” Shoebridge, a directer of Strategic Analysis Australia, said. “Offence and defence are just different sides of the coin of war.”

Albanese said 24,000 Australians remained in the UAE, many of whom will rely on departures from Dubai airport to return. The airport has been repeatedly targeted since the conflict began, forcing the cancellation of flights and what Foreign Minister Penny Wong has labelled as Australia’s worst-ever consular crisis.

Australia’s military headquarters in the Middle East is also located at the Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE.

Albanese spoke with US President Donald Trump at 2am, Australian time. The president wanted to lobby Australia to grant asylum to players in the Iranian women’s soccer team, a move the government was preparing before Trump’s intervention.

The prime minister did not say if the pair talked about Australian involvement in the conflict, which Trump said on Tuesday could end “very soon” as oil prices spiked and global markets were hit hard on Monday.

“Australia has been a part of every war the US has fought since Federation,” Shoebridge said. “The UK didn’t go to Vietnam, so not going to this one would have represented Mr Albanese breaking that record as a US ally.

“Whether this is a good war to join is an open question, but the dominant thought in the government’s mind is how do we be a part of this war but quarantine the risk.”

Albanese offered swift rhetorical support for the US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month, giving firmer shows of support than some European allies. More hawkish Australian political figures wanted Albanese to offer more tangible support for the war effort, even as the Trump administration has offered inconsistent explanations for the war’s mission.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott told this masthead that sending a Wedgetail, a sophisticated military surveillance plane, was a small step in the right direction but less significant than UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s commitment of fighter jets to shoot down drones.

“What I can’t understand is the government’s total inability to contemplate the armed forces actually firing a weapon. Even defensively,” Abbott said. “The Albanese government still doesn’t seem to grasp that the Iranian mullahs’ regime is about as evil as can be. It’s a government full of social justice activists when what we need are national security warriors.”

Tuesday’s move directly involves Australia as Iran widens its attacks against 12 neighbouring nations that house US bases or embassies after the killing of its supreme leader.

Albanese said on Tuesday morning: “We are not protagonists. What we are doing is providing for the defence of the UAE and of Australian citizens.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the RAAF plane would depart today and be operational in the Middle East by the end of the week, and would perform a similar function to aircraft deployed in Poland to protect Ukraine.

“We are one of the leading nations in the use of the E7, and it is one of the most high-tech airborne and reconnaissance platforms,” he said.

Marles, speaking alongside Albanese, said the UAE had one of the largest populations of Australian expats, making its defence in the national interest.

Albanese said crisis response teams were already on the ground providing consular support, and that more than 2600 Australians have safely returned of the more than 11,000 that had indicated they wanted to depart. He urged anyone offered a seat on a plane to take it.

“Significant challenges remain, and further work is underway to support those still seeking to leave,” he said.

Albanese said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump overnight, “primarily about the Iranian soccer team, but obviously we also discussed world events”.

“It was a warm conversation,” Albanese said, but refused to elaborate on what they said about the conflict.

Wong said the situation was unprecedented.

“Iran has attacked 12 countries, and overnight, we have seen that these attacks are escalating,” she said.

“In recent days, Dubai Airport has been under fire from Iranian missiles and drones, and since the 28th of February, more than 27,000 flights to and from the Middle East have been cancelled, with an estimated 4.4 million airline seats removed from schedules.”

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