Iranian strikes hit near Australian airbase in UAE, Albanese confirms

An Iranian projectile struck near Australia’s headquarters at the Al Minhad airbase in the United Arab Emirates at 9.15am AEDT on Wednesday, damaging an accommodation block and a medical facility. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed no Australian personnel were injured.

The projectile hit a road that leads to the base and sparked a fire, Albanese said. Australia has maintained a smaller force at Al Minhad since the end of operations in Afghanistan, with about 50 core ADF staff and 70 to 80 Australians at the base at any one time; the base was struck previously in a drone attack.

Last week the federal government announced it would send a specialist surveillance aircraft and stocks of air-to-air missiles to the UAE to protect Australians, after Tehran targeted the Gulf state in retaliation for US and Israeli bombings of Iran. Albanese would not confirm whether Iran had directly targeted the base and said Australia was not at war, declining to elaborate.

United Arab Emirates, Al Minhad airbase

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