Has Australia sent SAS to Middle East?

Media reports suggest that Australia has already sent SAS members to the Middle East – speculation Defence Minister Richard Marles didn’t deny.

FILE PHOTO: Members of Australia’s Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) prepare to fly into Oruzgan’s Baluchi Valley and Chora regions in support of an MTF1 mission, in 2010. Photo by Lieutenant Aaron Oldaker.

According to The Daily Telegraph newspaper around 90 SAS members are currently based at the Al Minhad Airbase near Dubai and speculation is that they are on standby to be used for emergency rescue and evacuation of diplomats from the region if the US war on Iran escalates across the Gulf.

When asked about the newspaper report, Defence Minister Marles said, “Well, look, we don’t comment on the movements of our special forces, but let me be absolutely clear: we are not having boots on the ground in Iran, and we’ve made that very clear from the outset of this conflict. The government’s posture is to be providing support to the countries of the Gulf. We’ve responded to a request from the United Arab Emirates, our E-7 Wedgetail is in the region providing that support, but we are not having boots on the ground in Iran”.

When pressed further, Minister Marles said, ” Well, as I say, we won’t comment on what our special forces do. We never make comments about the operations of our special forces, but I would be really clear to the Australian people, we’re not having boots on the ground in Iran. This is not a conflict that we are involved in. We have responded through the provision of our E-7 Wedgetail to request for providing defensive support to the United Arab Emirates, and that’s the extent of what we are doing”.

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