Iran news and live updates: RBA says ‘supply shock’ could spike inflation as US military upgrade death toll

Penny Wong has told colleagues the fact the major transport hubs in the Middle East had been attacked is massively hindering the ability to help stranded Australians.

The Foreign Minister gave a comprehensive update on the Middle East situation to a small committee of Labor MPs on Tuesday morning, then a briefer version to the full caucus meeting.

“The major transport hubs have previously been part of a solution in getting people home - this time, they are part of the problem,” she told the larger meeting, according to a senior Labor source.

“The hubs being hit means the number of people affected has massively increased and our capacity to help them has been massively reduced.”

The Israeli military says it has killed Islamic Jihad’s top commander in Lebanon.

“Abu Hamza Rami carried out hundreds of terrorist attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, including recruiting and training terrorists and procuring weapons,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Monday. the IDF said on X.

Rami has “managed the movement of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists along the Syria-Lebanon border and their activities against IDF troops in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said.

“His elimination has significantly degraded PIJ’s ability to carry out terrorist operations against Israel.”

Kuwaiti locals have captured video of the moment they assisted an American F-15 fighter pilot who had been shot down in a friendly fire incident.

The images that have been verified by The New York Times shows the dazed pilot near theor parachute with the fiery wreckage of the aircraft in the background.

The US confirmed the incident after the Kuwaiti military shot down three American jets on Monday, with all six crew members able to ejected safely.

“You’re fine?” a man asks the aviator.

“No problem, you’re safe. Thank you for helping us,” the man adds after the pilot confirms she is OK.

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Australians stranded in the Middle East because of flight cancellations and airspace closures will probably find it fastest to rely on commercial flights resuming to get home, the Government says.

The best advice was for people not to cancel flights themselves, but keep in close contact with their airline and travel agent, as well as registering on Smartraveller, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite said.

“It wouldn’t be practical to try and fly a hundred-odd thousand Australians out on military aircraft. So, the best option will be commercial flights,” he said.

“Once the airspace begins to open, we’ll begin advising Australians in the different parts of the region the best place to go to get those commercial flights.”

The State Department has issued urgent warnings for US citizens in the Middle East to leave immediately due to “serious safety risks”.

The latest advice has been issued for people currently in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Australia is considering contingencies on how to bring home tens of thousands of citizens stranded in the Middle East as the US-Israel war on Iran widens.

There are about 115,000 Australians in the region, with most unable to leave due to the closure of air spaces as a result of the conflict.

US and Israeli air strikes launched on Iran killed its leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior officials.

Defence Minister Richard Marles described the situation as a “very significant consular challenge”.

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The Strait of Hormuz is closed and Iran will fire on any ship trying to pass, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards senior official says.

It’s Iran’s most explicit warning since telling ships it was closing the export route on Saturday, a move that threatens to choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher AAP reports.

“The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze,” Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, said in remarks carried by state media on Monday.

The strait is the world’s most vital oil export route, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has confirmed a large airbase used by the Australian military was struck by Iran over the weekend.

A military source told The Nightly that the Al Minhad airbase outside Dubai received “multiple impacts” from suspected ballistic weapons.

Mr Marles confirmed on Tuesday that the airbase was hit, adding that all Australian military personnel are safe and accounted for.

“I can confirm both of those things. And so there was some drones which did attack that base on the first night, I think,” he told Sunrise.

“We have a number of Australians who operate from a headquarters that we’ve had at Al Minhad now for many, many years - it’s just outside of Dubai, about half an hour outside of Dubai.

“They are all accounted for, they are all safe. We’ve got north of 100 serving personnel actually across the Middle East in a range of countries, but most are in the UAE and that base is very important for us. But they are all safe and accounted for.”

The US Central Command (Centcom) has updated the death toll for service members to six.

A statment released on Monday says US forces discovered “two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region”.

“Major combat operations continue,” the update added.

Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock has suggested the Middle East conflict could worsen Australia’s inflation problems.

“The past few days have seen a significant escalation in conflict and instability in the Middle East, which is deeply concerning,” she told a business summit in Sydney.

“A supply shock could, for example, add to inflation pressures. And the potential implications for inflation expectations are something we are very alert to.”

Crude oil prices soared by double-digit figures on Sunday after US and Israeli air strikes on Iran killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with the West Texas Intermediate price hitting an eight-month high of $US72 a barrel on Monday.

Australian motorists were already paying $2 a litre for unleaded before the air strikes so an escalation in the conflict could push prices even higher, with economists equating every $US10 increase in crude oil to a 10-cent-a-litre price at the bowser.

Ms Bullock said a global slowdown because of a Middle East could also have the opposite effect on inflation.

“But at the same time, a prolonged impact on energy markets could have adverse effects on global economic activity and result in downward pressure on inflation,” she said. “It is not obvious how this might play out.”