Australia rules out military role in Iran conflict

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) – Australia said on Monday it would not take part in any military operations in Iran, ruling out deploying troops to the Middle East if the conflict escalates, as Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran and Iran responded with more missile attacks.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an attack on Saturday, while the United States reported its first casualties in the war as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted the conflict could last for four more weeks.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra would not get involved.

“Australia is not central to the issues in the Middle East. We didn’t participate in these strikes and we wouldn’t anticipate participating in the future,” Wong told Channel Nine on Monday.

Wong said the Australian government was in discussions with airlines to help Australians stranded in the Middle East but acknowledged that evacuation plans would be difficult while airspace across much of the region remained closed.

“We understand how distressing and challenging this time is, and we will do all that we can to provide you with information and to support you. The situation is very challenging,” Wong earlier told reporters in Canberra.

About 115,000 Australians were in the region and the most viable option to get them home would be when commercial airlines resumed services, Wong said. She declined to say whether the government was planning repatriation flights.

“There is conflict in the region, we’ve seen loss of life across the region and airspace is not open. So whether or not it is an Australian flight or a commercial flight, the flights are not able to occur,” Wong said.

Air travel to the Middle East, a major travel hub toward Asia and Europe for Australians, remained disrupted on Monday with Etihad and Emirates cancelling some flights from Australia.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the government had taken measures for the safety of about 100 Australian defence personnel based at the Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai, which is used to support UN missions.     

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates)