Australia says Al Minhad air base close to Dubai hit in Iranian drone assault | EUROtoday

Australia has stated its air base within the United Arab Emirates was focused by Iranian drones over the weekend.

Defence minister Richard Marles confirmed the assault, saying drones struck the Al Minhad base on the primary evening of escalation, however acknowledged that every one Australian personnel had been “safe and accounted for”.

Australia has operated from Al Minhad since 2003, with round 100 ADF members at present deployed throughout a number of Middle Eastern international locations. While not all are based mostly at Al Minhad, the bulk are working from throughout the UAE.

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The facility, positioned roughly 30km south of Dubai, was struck on the opening evening of the battle.

The incident marks one other occasion of Australian forces coming below fireplace within the area. In 2019, rockets hit an Iraqi base internet hosting greater than 300 ADF members who had been a part of a joint coaching mission with New Zealand forces.

Mr Marles reiterated Canberra’s backing of US and Israeli army motion towards Iran, although he acknowledged uncertainty about how lengthy hostilities might proceed. “It’s very difficult to speculate on how long the conflict will last.”

“We’ve been very clear we support the action, having as a core aim denying Iran the ability to acquire a deployable nuclear weapon, which would obviously be a catastrophe for the world,” he stated.

Beyond the strike on Al Minhad, Iran’s retaliatory assaults reportedly brought about harm elsewhere in Dubai, together with on the metropolis’s worldwide airport and the landmark Burj Al Arab.

Explosions had been additionally reported on Palm Jumeirah, the emirate’s man-made island growth.

Approximately 115,000 Australians are at present within the broader Middle East area. Under regular situations, about 11,000 Australians transit via the world each day. With disruptions to air journey, the federal authorities has been coordinating help for residents overseas.

Foreign minister Penny Wong stated she had spoken with UAE deputy prime minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to hunt help for stranded travellers.

Mr Marles stated: “We’re working through contingencies… We have all the scenarios in mind and we are preparing as best we can for them. But I’d also make the point there’s 115,000 Australians across the region.

“The most significant limitation on being able to do anything is the restriction of airspace. And when airspace begins to open up, our expectation is that the quickest flights that will resume will be commercial options.

“Our focus is making sure that we are getting information through to people as quickly as we can.”

A suspected Iranian drone hit the US embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital early Tuesday because it saved placing targets across the area, whereas the US and Israel pounded Iran with airstrikes in what president Donald Trump urged was simply the beginning of a relentless marketing campaign that would final greater than a month.

The assault from two drones on the US embassy in Riyadh brought about a “limited fire” and minor harm, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry, which didn’t launch additional particulars.

It follows an assault the day earlier than on the US embassy in Kuwait. The enlargement of Iranian retaliation throughout the Gulf and the depth of the Israeli and American assaults, the killing of Iranian supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the dearth of any obvious exit plan portend a potential extended battle with far-reaching penalties.

Many international locations deemed secure havens within the Mideast have been hit by Iran in retaliation for the US and Israeli strikes, with latest targets together with two Amazon information centres within the UAE and a drone impression close to one other in Bahrain that brought about harm, the corporate stated. Iran has additionally hit vitality amenities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and attacked a number of ships Strait of Hormuz, the slim mouth of the Persian Gulf via which a fifth of all oil traded passes, sending international oil and pure gasoline costs hovering.