Australia will send a hi-tech military plane to join an international mission to reopen the strait of Hormuz, but the Labor government has not ruled out sending more assets to the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The defence minister, Richard Marles, joined an overnight meeting of defence ministers from 40 other countries, to discuss global efforts to reopen the key shipping channel off the Iranian coastline, which has been closed or heavily restricted since the beginning of the US-Israel assault in February.<\/p>\n
Marles said the meeting had resolved to back \u201ccollective diplomatic, economic and military capabilities to support freedom of navigation through the strait of Hormuz\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia stands ready to support an independent and strictly defensive multinational military mission, led by the United Kingdom and France, once it is established,\u201d Marles said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur intention is to contribute Australia\u2019s world-leading E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to this defensive effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later on Wednesday, Marles told parliament that Australia would continue speaking with the UK and France \u201cabout how else we can contribute\u201d to the mission.<\/p>\n
The Wedgetail \u2013 which is accompanied by approximately 85 Australian defence force staff \u2013 had been deployed to the United Arab Emirates in March<\/a>, in what the Australian government said was a defensive capacity to help protect Gulf nations from Iranian attacks.<\/p>\n The surveillance plane has been feeding information and intelligence back to the Combined Air Operations Centre in Qatar, but Australian defence officials maintain it is not assisting the US in offensive capabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email <\/a><\/p>\n Initially deployed for a four-week period, the Wedgetail had already had its deployment extended once, and is now likely to remain in the region for some time. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told Guardian Australia in April that the extended deployment would initially be for an additional four weeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n The government in March also announced it would provide advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (Amraams) to the UAE. Tuesday night\u2019s federal budget allocated $6.6m in 2025\u201326 to provide the Amraams to the UAE \u201cfor use in self\u2011defence\u201d.<\/p>\n