Iran

Question

On the 25th of February, dependents of diplomats were being evacuated from Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Israel on advice that there was clearly a security risk and this would be the best decision for their safety. 1) Why then did it take three days and over 100 ballistic missiles to be fired at Tehran before Australia finally decided to change the travel warning to do not travel in Israel? 2) Given Australia clearly anticipated there were risks and conflict of course could occur. Was it the Government's point of view that on the 25th conflict was a real possibility? 3) If not, why were dependents evacuated? If so, why wasn't the complete travel advice changed to reflect this? 4) By the end of February 2026 there was one of the largest naval presences in history, including over 90 naval strike aircraft on board aircraft carriers, positioning for conflict in Iran. If the answer was that the Department didn't believe there was a high chance of conflict, does the Department consider this a failure worth investigating so as to not repeat this situation again in the future? Or does it evaluate this response as adequate?

Answer

Please see attached answer

Documents

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