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Maria Siow

Australia’s decision to send a surveillance aircraft and air-to-air missiles to the Gulf highlights the difficult position the country now faces: supporting US and regional partners while trying to avoid being drawn deeper into the widening conflict.
Analysts said the government was “walking a very fine line” with the deployment, signalling support for partners under Iranian attack while stopping short of committing Australia to offensive operations.
At the same time, they said Canberra was reluctant to “anger” US President Donald Trump, given the importance of maintaining close defence ties with Washington, including the Aukus submarine partnership.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that Canberra would help Gulf countries defend against escalating Iranian reprisals across the region.
“Iran’s reprisal attacks continue to escalate, already at a scale and depth we haven’t seen before,” Albanese said at a news conference, adding that 12 countries across the region, from Cyprus through to the Gulf, were “continuing to be targeted”.
He said the Royal Australian Air Force would send an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft and supporting personnel to “protect and secure airspace above the Gulf” for the next four weeks and assist with the region’s “collective self-defence”.

The deployment will involve about 85 Australian Defence Force personnel alongside the aircraft.
Australia will also send advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates, Albanese said, following a phone call with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
One reason for the move, according to Albanese, is the 115,000 Australians living in the Middle East, including 24,000 in the UAE.
He stressed that the deployment was defensive, saying helping Australians also meant assisting the UAE and other Gulf states defend themselves against what he called “unprovoked attacks”.
Albanese said Canberra was not taking “offensive action” against Iran and would not deploy troops on the ground.
Ian Hall, a professor of international relations at Griffith University, said Canberra was “walking a very fine line” with the deployment.
It does not want to fight in a war against Iran, which most Australians see as unwise and unjustified
Ian Hall, Griffith University’s international relations professor
“It does not want to fight in a war against Iran, which most Australians see as unwise and unjustified. But Canberra does not want to anger Trump either,” he said.
Hall said the security of regional airspace and shipping routes also mattered for Australia’s economic interests, particularly given its existing defence presence in the UAE.
He added that Canberra had faced criticism both within and outside Australia for not taking a stand against the conflict.
“I think a quieter approach, like Japan’s, would have been a better one to take,” Hall said.
“But in the end, Canberra has limited influence over this Trump administration, and what we do or say sadly does not matter very much.”
Japan has taken a more cautious diplomatic approach, urging Iran to halt attacks on civilian facilities and shipping, coordinating with the G7 on evacuations and maritime security, and moving to release oil reserves as it balances its alliance with the US against its heavy reliance on Middle Eastern energy.
Thomas Wilkins, an associate professor of international security at the University of Sydney, said the Albanese government was also mindful of the political costs of appearing out of step with Washington.

Wilkins said Canberra would want to avoid the kind of criticism Trump directed at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer after he initially refused to support US-led strikes on Iran.
Maintaining a “reasonable accord” with the US was also crucial given Australia’s commitment to the Aukus submarine project, he added.
Under the pact, Washington is set to transfer nuclear-powered submarine technology to Australia, beginning with the sale of three to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines in the 2030s and the joint development of a next-generation fleet.
Wilkins said the US-Israeli attacks on Iran had created “a real headache” for Australia as a country that has long presented itself as committed to upholding a rules-based international order.
“This military action flies in the face of that order, though a weak caveat could be applied that Iran has been a persistent threat to it,” he said.
While the term “rules-based order” was common in government documents and statements in many countries, Wilkins noted that it had largely disappeared from recent US policy language.
He said the conflict was likely to be protracted and could have lasting consequences across the region, adding that without boots on the ground, it would be extremely difficult for the US and Israel to “force a conclusive outcome”.


“No war has been won by air power alone. Yet this would result in the ‘mother of all battles’ that would be extremely costly to allied forces,” Wilkins said.
Troy Lee-Brown, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia’s Defence and Security Institute, said Canberra was sending a Boeing E-7A Wedgetail and Australian Defence Force personnel to the Middle East to provide airborne early warning and control.
The aircraft is designed to support Gulf states through radar surveillance and air defence coordination and is not tasked with undertaking offensive missions.
“I don’t believe sending a defensive asset such as an AEW&C aircraft to protect Gulf states necessarily entails Australia taking any further steps if the conflict endures,” Lee-Brown said.
An airborne early warning and control aircraft is a flying radar system designed to detect, track and identify enemy aircraft, ships and missiles at long ranges.
Nick Bisley, a professor of international relations at La Trobe University in Australia, said it was unlikely that the conflict would escalate significantly further.
“America’s actions are damaging to the credibility of its commitment to international law, and this derives primarily from its lack of developing a coherent case for using force or doing any diplomatic preparation to rally support,” Bisley said.
“It’s harmful to the prevailing order,” he said, but added it would not spell the collapse of the international order.


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Australia walks ‘very fine line’ with Gulf deployment amid Iran war

A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft (top left) flying over airspace in the Northern Territory of Australia. Photo: Australian Defence Force/AFP

A building hit by a reported drone strike in Dubai’s Creek Harbour is seen on Thursday. Photo: AFP 

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks in Canberra on Tuesday. Albanese has said Australia will provide support to “protect and secure airspace above the Gulf”. Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas via Reuters

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Damaged buildings following air strikes at the Khorgu missile base on Monday in Khorgu, Iran. Photo: Vantor via AP

North Korea has expressed support for the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader. Photo: WANA via Reuters

The Choe Hyon naval destroyer conducts a missile test launch observed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at an unknown location in North Korea on Tuesday. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

South Korean tanks on standby at a training ground in the border city of Paju on Monday, as South Korea and the US begin their annual “Freedom Shield” military exercise. Photo: EPA/Yonhap

A view of the Natanz Nuclear Facility with new building damage, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, near Natanz, Iran, on March 2. Photo: Vantor/Handout via Reuters

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US troopers in battle gear seen during a joint military exercise in the Philippines in 2024. Photo: AP

Smoke from an intercepted Iranian missile is seen in the sky above Doha, Qatar, last week. Photo: EPA

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US and South Korean soldiers take part in a joint river-crossing exercise as part of the Freedom Shield military drills in March 2025. Photo: Getty Images 

Colonel Jang Do-young (left), public affairs director of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Colonel Ryan Donald, public affairs director of the United States Forces Korea, pose for a photo during a Freedom Shield press briefing on February 25. Photo: EPA

New launch vehicles for nuclear-capable short-range missiles are paraded through a Pyongyang street during a military ceremony on February 18. Photo: KCNA/AP

Mock launch tubes of Cheongung surface-to-air missile system are seen at Hanwha Aerospace factory in Changwon on November 21, 2024. Photo: AFP

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The sun sets behind a plume of smoke from a US-Israeli military strike in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Azeri security personnel guard the debris of what is believed to be an Iranian drone near a school in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic on Thursday. Photo: Azerbaijan State News Agency/Xinhua

A Turkish soldier checks a fragment from a Nato air defence system that intercepted a missile on Wednesday. Photo: Demiroren News Agency/AFP

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Analysts say the defensive deployment reflects Canberra’s attempt to balance alliance pressure with fears of deeper involvement in the conflict


Analysts say the defensive deployment reflects Canberra’s attempt to balance alliance pressure with fears of deeper involvement in the conflict.


Australia walks ‘very fine line’ with Gulf deployment amid Iran war

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Analysts say the defensive deployment reflects Canberra’s attempt to balance alliance pressure with fears of deeper involvement in the conflict

Analysts say the defensive deployment reflects Canberra’s attempt to balance alliance pressure with fears of deeper involvement in the conflict