Australian Defence Force personnel confirmed safe after Iranian strike on operational headquarters

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, speaking to media at Parliament House on 3 March, confirmed there has been no injuries to Australian personnel.

“On the first night there was a strike at the Al Minhad Air Base, but all the Australians who are there are safe and accounted for. There were no injuries to Australians,” he said.

“We’ve got more than 100 personnel, actually, across the Middle East. Most of them are in the UAE where we’ve had an operational headquarters at Al Minhad for many, many years now. But they are all safe and accounted for.”

Iranian missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure and military bases have been widely condemned by the governments of the United Arab Emirates, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Kuwait, and the United States.

Minister Marles confirmed that Australia is evaluating contingency plans to assist stranded citizens caught in the attacks.

“We’re working through contingencies … We have all the scenarios in mind and we are preparing as best we can for them. But I’d also make the point there’s 115,000 Australians across the region,” he said.

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“The most significant limitation on being able to do anything is the restriction of airspace. And when airspace begins to open up, our expectation is that the quickest flights that will resume will be commercial options.

“Our focus is making sure that we are getting information through to people as quickly as we can (through Smartraveller ) … It is a trusted source of information, and we would encourage people in the region to follow that.”

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.