Iran war updates: Dubai airport struck by drones as death toll from Israel’s attacks on Lebanon rise

The Albanese government has refused to reveal if Australia will agree to a Trump administration request for military support in the war against Iran or if it will leave our oldest ally hanging.

Defence Minister Richard Marles disclosed the American request in a television interview on Tuesday night before jetting off to Indonesia for a diplomatic trip.

It came after he faced questions over Australia’s decision to send an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to the United Arab Emirates and an unspecified quantity of medium-range missiles, known as an AMRAAM.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese the UAE requests had come after he spoke with president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the phone last Tuesday and received a “written” request.

Mr Marles said Australia had received a range of defensive capability-based requests since the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran late last month - including from America.

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The Tasnim News Agency is reporting “at least” nine people have been killed by a US-Israeli attack on the city of Aligudarz in western Iran.

Among the dead is Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps colonel Ebrahim Mousavian, according to the news agency.

A Sri Lankan court has ordered a hospital in the country’s south to release the bodies of the 84 Iranian soldiers who were killed by a US submarine on March 4.

Galle National Hospital director Ranga Sabapathige says he was ordered to hand the bodies over to Iranian officials as per a court order from a Galle magistrate.

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting 7 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Tamnin al-Tahta, in Lebanon’s east, according to Al Jazeera.

5 people were wounded in the strike.

Two drones have “fallen” in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport on Wednesday, the Government of Dubai Media Office is reporting.

One person was moderately injured, and three people sustained minor injuries, the Media Office said.

There have been no interruptions to air traffic coming in and out of the airport.

A third ship has come under fire from an “unknown projectile” about 50 nautical miles northwest of Dubai, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations has reported.

“There is no report of any environmental impact,” the UKMTO statement said.

“The crew are reported safe and well.”

The strike comes after two separate vessels were hit by missiles in the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Wednesday.

Iranians in Australia say the regime could use members of the women’s soccer team as “propaganda” after six players sought asylum in Australia.

Community leaders say they are worried after player Mohaddeseh Zolfi made contact with Iranian officials and decided to return to Iran, despite being granted a humanitarian visa to stay in Australia.

Ms Zolfi’s phone call to the officials triggered the other members of the team who had been granted a visa to be evacuated from the secure location they were staying at.

This backtracking could be used as propaganda by the Iranian regime, according to members of the Iranian-Australian community, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

“This shows the amount of pressure they are under,” human rights activist Sara Rafiee told the SMH.

“I’m concerned for the other girls.”

Tina Kordostami, an Iranian-Australian who flew to the Gold Coast to “help the women escape”, says she is “worried” for the safety of the team members who elected to return to Iran.

“They are clearly being threatened,” Ms Kordostami said.

“The regime is clearly escalating matters at its end.”

Bahrain has introduced a resolution fot the UNSC to consider, condeming Iranian attacks on Arab nations since the war began, Al Jazeera is reporting.

The vote will call for an “immediate end” to drone strikes and bombing in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, and Kuwait.

The Israel Defence Force has issued an “urgent alert” to residents in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital city.

“Specifically the residents of Harat Hreik, Burj Al-Barajneh, and inside the complex located south of the Damascus Highway,” IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Wednesday afternoon.

“For your safety, you must evacuate immediately and head east along the Damascus Highway.”

Yousef Pezeshkian, who is a government adviser and son of Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, says newly-elected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is “safe and sound” despite sustaining injuries during the war.

“I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured,” Pezeshkian said on his Telegram account.

“I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound.”

Khamenei had been reported as a “wounded veteran of the Ramadan war” by Iranian state television last week.

The new Ayatollah is yet to make a public apperance since he was selected for the role.