Hundreds of Australians seeking evacuation from Israel, Iran

Hundreds of Australians are trying to flee Israel and Iran as all-out war looms between the long-time foes.

The Albanese government is brainstorming plans to evacuate hundreds of Australians trying to flee Israel and Iran as all-out war looms between the two long-time foes.

Both countries closed their airspaces over the weekend after Israel launched “pre-emptive strikes” targeting Iran’s nuclear program.

Australia has shut its embassies across the Middle East, issued do not travel alerts and opened crisis portals.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday the national crisis team was looking at several options for evacuations, including whether Australia “can try to get people out by air”.

Israel has struck several major oil and gas facilities in Iran. Picture: Atta Kenare / AFP

“The people here at the crisis centre are working on a range of plans, including a plan for assisted departures when air space is open and when it is safe to do so,” Senator Wong told reporters.

“Obviously, this is a very distressing time for so many people in Australia and in the Middle East.”

She said 300 Australians had registered and were “seeking assistance with departure” in Israel, with a further 350 in Iran.

Senator Wong said she expected the numbers would rise.

“It’s morning at the moment in Tel Aviv and Tehran, so obviously we’re likely to see more registrations through the day,” she said.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said there were “thousands of Australians” in Israel and Iran, including diplomatic staff.

He said Australia’s embassy and defence personnel in the region were “all accounted for”.

“Our embassy staff in both Tehran and Tel Aviv are all accounted for and they are safe,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“We have a number of Defence Force personnel, a small number around the region, they too are all accounted for and safe but we will continue to monitor their ongoing safety.

“Beyond that, there are actually thousands of Australians who are in both Iran and Israel.

“Right now, airspace over Iran and Israel is closed, so our message to them is to shelter in place, to watch very closely the Smartraveller website and the advice which is contained on that and if needs be to contact the emergency consular contact numbers.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says it is ‘inevitable’ Australian will be hit with higher oil prices. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Marles said Australian authorities had received a “number of contacts” but that it was “relatively small in the context of the Australian population in both these countries”.

He also urged Australians to “heed” the travel advice and not try entering either Israel or Iran.

‘Inevitable’

Israel and Iran continued trading deadly strikes into Monday, with both sides reporting civilian deaths.

In Iran, emergency crews have been battling blazes at several major oil and gas facilities after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) hit them.

State media has also reported damage to military sites across the Islamic republic, including the defence ministry’s headquarters in the capital Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran has targeted the Israeli port city of Haifa as well as residential areas in southern Israel and vowed to continue to intensify attacks.

Speaking to the ABC, Mr Marles said the Albanese government was “very concerned” by the rapidly escalating conflict and repeated Canberra’s call for “both parties to focus on diplomacy and dialogue”.

“In making that call, we are joining voices from the United States, from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and many other countries around the world which are also urging the parties to engage in restraint and to focus on diplomacy and dialogue precisely because we are worried about this escalating into a wider conflict,” he said.

The price of Brent crude oil – the oil benchmark with the strongest sway on Australia’s fuel prices – jumped 4 per cent on Sunday evening to $US77 (A$118) per barrel.

It came on top of the 8 per cent surge on Friday when hostilities began.

Iran sent more than 100 UAVs at Israel. We intercepted them.

Here’s some footage: pic.twitter.com/0OB7OI1wJq

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 15, 2025

Mr Marles said it was “inevitable” Australians would pay more for fuel as a result but that the extent to which hostilities affected Australia’s economy “depends a bit on how long the conflict goes and the way in which it plays out”.

But he said it was “right to focus on fuel”.

“And already we have seen over the course of the last few days the global oil price go up and it’s the inevitable consequence of any conflict,” Mr Marles said.

“We saw this with the war in Ukraine, that does disrupt global supply chains and that has an economic impact around the world.

“So, we are very much monitoring that closely to see what the ultimate impact is here, in Australia.”

He added that it was “part of why we are very much urging in this moment for both parties to engage in diplomacy and dialogue”.

Anthony Albanese, who is in Canada for the G7 summit, told a press conference that concerns about Australia’s fuel reserves had been around “for quite a while“.

The Prime Minister said it was “something that the government continues to monitor”.

Israeli air defence systems have been fending off Iranian strikes on Tel Aviv. Picture: AFP / Menahem Kahana

Mr Albanese also said he and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney discussed the Middle East when they met in Calgary ahead of the G7 summit.

He said they “share a view wanting to see a de-escalation of conflict, wanting to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy”.

“I have expressed before our concern about Iran gaining the capacity of nuclear weapons as something that is a threat to security in the region,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

“But we, along with other like-minded country, do want to see that priority on dialogue and diplomacy.”

Israel launched its offensive after the UN’s atomic watchdog declared Iran was breaching its obligations, with inspectors admitting they could not say if Tehran’s nuclear program was “exclusively peaceful”.

As of Monday morning, as many as 14 Iranian nuclear scientists had been reportedly killed.

IDF strikes have also killed senior military officers, including the intelligence chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and his deputy.

Citing Trump administration officials, US media reported overnight that Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The reports came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all but called for regime change in Iran, while IDF officials left the door open to a hit on Mr Khamenei.

Originally published as Hundreds of Australians seeking evacuation from Israel, Iran