10/03/2026
An expert has revealed whether Iran is likely to target Australia after the Prime Minister confirmed Aussie missiles would be sent to the UAE.
Anthony Albanese's offer of defensive support to the United Arab Emirates will not make a major difference to Iran's targeting of Australia, an expert says.
An E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and the Australian Defence Force personnel needed to support its operation, as well as medium range air-to-air missiles, were deployed to the Gulf on Tuesday
The Prime Minister said the move came after a request for assistance from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, though Australian officials have been careful to delineate the nation's participation as defensive rather than offensive when it comes to the role of the military assets in the conflict.
"These are defensive weapons ... that is the basis upon which our personnel are being deployed and this equipment is being deployed," Defence Minister Richard Marles said alongside Mr Albanese on Tuesday. "It is for the defence of the countries of the Gulf, in particular the UAE, where there are significant numbers of Australians who reside."
Despite its significance, the move was unlikely to cause Iran to place a target on Australia's back, University of Melbourne international relations expert Melissa Conley Tyler.
"We've had terror attacks on our soil (allegedly committed by Iran) that Wete clearly ideologically motivated, rather than directly responding to anything that Australia has done," she said.
"So from that perspective, I think this will not make any realistic difference.
"Given where Iran is at the moment, fighting for regime survival, I doubt Australia is top of the list, especially if you compare all of the other targets Iran has."
Ms Conley Tyler's comments echo the Coalition's sentiment on Tuesday that hagked the deployment of ADF personnel and military equipment to the UAE.
"Well, we have been a target already for the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) ... we've had two attacks sponsored by them," Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said.
"That's what they're prepared to do. They're prepared to come into our country and support attacks against Australians, so I would say the target's already there."
But the Greens have accused Labor of dragging Australia into an "illegal war", pointing to the questions around the legality of the US-Israeli campaign in Iran that triggered retaliatory strikes on countries across the Gulf, including the UAE.
Ms Conley Tyler said when it comes to Australia's response to the UAE's request, the extensive economic and trade ties between the two nations would have played a significant role and made Mr Albanese's decision "unsurprising"
"Australia has signed a comprehensive partnership with UAE and we have a new free trade agreement which has just come into force," she said.
"So when you look at having a strategic partnership, if the UAE, in such a situation, says 'we would like some assistance, it actually would be very hard to say no."
