Australian Military Assets Deployed To Middle East To Aid Evacuation Of Citizens

(MENAFN- IANS) Canberra, June 20 (IANS) The Australian government has deployed military assets to the Middle East to help evacuate citizens from Iran and Israel.

Penny Wong, the minister for foreign affairs, said on Friday that Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and aircraft are being deployed to the Middle East as part of contingency plans to help Australian citizens leave the region if the airspace that is currently closed reopens.

"I also emphasise we are sending defence assets to help Australians. They are not there for combat," she told reporters in South Australia.

On top of the ADF assets, she said, a crisis response team from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) will be sent to Azerbaijan to support Australians who manage to leave Iran without government assistance.

As of Friday, about 2,000 Australian citizens in Iran and 1,200 in Israel had registered with DFAT for government assistance to evacuate.

Wong said that any Australian who can safely leave Iran is urged to do so and that those who cannot should shelter in place.

Earlier in the day, the Australian government suspended its embassy operations in Iran's capital and ordered officials to leave the country amid the escalating military conflict in the region.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, said that the government has directed the departure of all Australian officials and their dependents from Iran and suspended operations at the embassy in Tehran based on advice about the "deteriorating" security environment.

She said in a statement that Australia's Ambassador to Iran will remain in the region to support the government's response to the crisis and that Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) consular staff will be deployed to Azerbaijan to support Australians departing Iran.

"We urge Australians who are able to leave Iran to do so now, if it is safe. Those who are unable to, or do not wish to leave, are advised to shelter in place," Wong added.

As of Friday, more than 2,000 Australian citizens had registered with DFAT for assistance leaving Iran.

However, Italy will maintain operations at its embassies in both Tehran and Tel Aviv amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, while organising charter flights to assist Italian nationals wishing to leave the two countries, Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces announced that it had carried out a series of overnight airstrikes in Tehran, targeting dozens of sites linked to Iran's missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

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