Australia will deploy a long-range military reconnaissance aircraft to the Persian Gulf to protect civilians, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday.
An E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and defense force support personnel will be deployed for an initial period of four weeks to help "protect and secure the airspace over the Persian Gulf," Albanese said at a press conference.
Australia also plans to provide advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates "in response to a request," the prime minister said.
The United Arab Emirates, which is home to about 24,000 Australians, has shot down more than 1,500 missiles and drones fired by Iran in retaliation for the US-Israeli attacks, he said.
Albanese said he decided to send the advanced radar surveillance aircraft to the Persian Gulf after a discussion with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
"My government's first priority is, and always will be, to keep Australians safe," the prime minister said.
"Helping Australians also means helping the UAE and other Gulf countries defend themselves from what are unprovoked attacks," he added.
"My government has been clear that we are not taking offensive action against Iran and we have been clear that we are not deploying Australian troops on the ground in Iran."
The government says there are about 115,000 Australian citizens across the Middle East, of whom about 2,600 have returned home.
"Significant challenges remain and further work is being done to support those who still seek to leave," Albanese said.
Australia said last week it had deployed a heavy transport plane and a refueling plane to the Middle East as part of plans to evacuate its citizens from the region.
Canberra has been careful to make clear that its forces are not engaging in offensive operations against Iran.
On Friday, Albanese revealed that Australian military personnel were aboard a US submarine that sank an Iranian navy ship in Sri Lanka.
The personnel were on the submarine as part of training arrangements under AUKUS, a decades-old defense pact with Britain and the United States, he said, stressing that they did not take part in the attack.
