Australia Deploys Military Assets to Middle East in 'Contingency Planning'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday, March 5, 2026, that the government has deployed "military assets" to the Middle East. The deployment is part of contingency planning as tensions in the region remain high following the joint US-Israel attacks on Iran last Saturday.

Citing CNA, Australian officials told AFP that it had deployed a heavy transport aircraft and a fuel transport aircraft as part of the plans to evacuate citizens and permanent residents of Australia out of the warring region. 

“We’ve already deployed military assets as part of our contingency planning earlier this week,” Albanese said, as quoted from Al Jazeera, adding that the government had also sent six crisis response teams to the region.

"I thank those Australians going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians," he added.

Australian officials have urged citizens to take up commercial flights to exit the Middle East region, but The Guardian reported that the country's defense department launched Operation Beech to provide assistance. 

Australia reported that it has 115,000 citizens in the region, with as many as 24,000 stuck in the United Arab Emirates alone. 

Some commercial flights to Australia have already started to resume. According to SBS News, the first commercial flights out of Dubai since the war broke out on Saturday landed in Sydney late Wednesday night, carrying more than 200 Australians. 

PM Albanese said on Thursday that the second flight bound for Sydney had left in the morning, with more flights from the UAE expected amid the "dangerous and fast-moving" situation in the region.

"We know there are many Australians who are waiting for an opportunity to get home," Albanese said. "The Australian government, the UAE and the Gulf states are working hard to secure more flights to get Australians home as soon as possible."

Albanese also called for a de-escalation of conflict in the region as Iran launches retaliatory attacks on Israel and US military assets in the region, in a meeting with Canada's PM Mark Carney on Thursday in Canberra. 

"The world wants to see a de-escalation and wants to see Iran cease to spread the destinations of its attacks," Albanese said, as quoted from DW.

"We're seeing Gulf states, that have not been involved, attacked across the board, including the attacks on civilian and tourist areas as well," he added.

Read: Governments Ramp Up Evacuation Flights for Nationals Stranded in Middle East

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