Middle East

The Pentagon has identified the six US service members who died this past week when a refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq amid the US-Israeli war against Iran and the wider conflict in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump says he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others will send warships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

The deployment of about 2,500 Marines to the Middle East represents a new phase in the weeks-old war in Iran, as Iranian forces increase their attacks on the Strait of Hormuz.

Upcoming F1 races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where Aussie Oscar Piastri saluted last year, have been cancelled due to the ongoing unrest in the Middle East.

Twelve doctors, paramedics and nurses have been killed in an Israeli strike on a healthcare centre in southern Lebanon, the World Health Organisation says.

Israeli forces say they have carried out about 400 waves of air strikes in the first two weeks of the war with Iran, each involving numerous fighter jets.

President Donald Trump said that the US military had conducted a bombing raid targeting military facilities on Kharg Island, a small landmass in the northern Persian Gulf off the coast of Iran. 

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has not ruled out relaxing Australia’s total ban on importing Russian oil and petrol following reports China may halt its exports to Australia.

Defence personnel, military planes, and missiles are being deployed to the Middle East, as Australia’s involvement in the United States-Israeli war on Iran deepens.

About 2,500 Marines aboard as many as three warships are heading to the Middle East from the Indo-Pacific region as Iran increases its attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, two US officials said.

‘There is nothing they can do about it!’ the President said in a statement.

Pete Hegseth has made contempt for what he calls ‘stupid rules of engagement’, and has boasted that he unleashed the military to use ‘maximum authorities on the battlefield’ in the Iran war.

The two upcoming Formula One races, scheduled for the Middle East in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, are set to be cancelled because of the conflict in the region.

Iran's women's coach says comments on Iranian TV caused psychological damage and drove some of her Asian Cup team ‌to seek asylum in Australia.

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen, filmed or photographed since the attack which killed his family, including his father.