CANBERRA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- 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 Defense 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 emphasize we are sending defense 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.
Earlier on Friday, the government announced that Australia had suspended its embassy operations in Tehran and directed all officials and their dependents to leave Iran.
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. ■