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11-03-2026
CANBERRA/ SYDNEY: The Federal Government of Australia is considering a request for military assistance from Persian Gulf States targeted by Iranian attacks as the war in the Middle East enters its second week.
All six Gulf States including Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar have been impacted by Iranian strikes since the war began, which have targeted civilian infrastructure including airports.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told Insiders the government had received requests from some of those countries for protection against drone and missile attacks.
“Many countries who are non-participants have been attacked by Iran through this,” she said.
She would not provide details on the type of military assistance being considered, but said the government would be transparent if it accepted the request.
The minister maintained the government’s position that it would not participate in offensive action against Iran.
Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson said he had sought a briefing about the potential deployment of defence force personnel to the Middle East in defensive roles.
“Australia had a proud record of standing with our allies and friends in times of crisis, and the Coalition will carefully consider any deployment proposals in the national interest once briefed,” he said.
There are narrow options available to the government if they decide to answer the call for help. Malcolm Davis, senior defence strategy analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said it was likely the Gulf States’ primary concern was the Iranian attacks on oil infrastructure by drones and missiles but he said Australia had limited capacity for counter-drone activity beyond a project called LAND156, which is still in early development.
The defence force does have a system called NASAMS, a short-range surface-to-air missile system, which could be deployed alongside a small detachment of soldiers.
“Theoretically they could deploy a naval vessel to help with that defence, but that would take longer. The warship would take time to get over there.”
The alternative would be calling on Australian companies which have developed anti-drone products to sell to the Gulf States, which would not necessarily require support from the government.
Dr Davis said a small deployment with NASAMS to Gulf States would be the “limit” of what the government could do without an escalation to boots on the ground.
“We don’t want a situation where we have Australians deployed in Iran itself, but this way they would be deployed into the Gulf States and not necessarily boots on the ground in terms of combat,” he said.
“They might be able to get away with that, but I think that would be the limit. I don’t see Australian troops going in Iran.”
He also said it was unlikely Iran would respond beyond issuing diplomatic notes if Australia was to send a small deployment to the region in a defensive capacity.
Senator Wong said Australia’s support for the US and Israel offensive in Iran was in the national interest, but would not extend to troops in Iran.
The foreign minister also pointed to failures of the UN Security Council in preventing the war, and said offensive action would not have been necessary had the council held Iran to account in regard to its nuclear program.
“Of course we would have preferred UN Security Council authority for the action that has been taken, but the UN Security Council has not been able to hold Iran to account,” she said. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
