Penny Wong said the government had updated its travel advisory as the regional security environment deteriorated, urging Australians to avoid travel to the UAE.

“Our travel advice has been updated to reflect that direction. We continue to advise Australians not to travel to the UAE,” Wong said in a post on X late on Sunday.

Wong said more than 1,700 Australians had already returned home on commercial flights from the UAE since the conflict intensified.

Approximately 115,000 Australians were in the Middle East when the fighting began about 10 days ago, raising concerns about the safety of nationals across the region as hostilities escalate.

The conflict has disrupted air travel and business activity while pushing global energy prices higher, as military strikes involving the United States and Israel target Iran.

Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was not seeking negotiations to end the U.S.-Israeli military strikes against Iran.

His remarks come as governments across the region reassess security risks and the safety of their citizens.

Australia, a close ally of the United States, has said it would not deploy troops to the Middle East if the conflict expands. However, officials indicated on Sunday that Canberra was considering requests to help protect countries from Iranian drones and missile threats as regional tensions intensify.

The statement did not specify where the incident occurred or what operations the officers were involved in at the time. Officials also did not disclose their identities or whether other personnel were injured.The announcement comes as Kuwait and other Gulf states remain on heightened alert following a series of drone and missile launches from Iran after recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic. Several countries in the region have reported intercepting aerial threats amid escalating security concerns.

The Kuwait Fire Force said only that the two officers were killed “while performing duties,” offering no further explanation. Authorities have not indicated whether the deaths were connected to fire response operations, civil defense activities, or emergency support related to the ongoing regional security situation.The fire service in Kuwait functions as the primary authority responsible for firefighting, rescue operations, and emergency response across the country.

Gulf countries, including Kuwait, have taken precautionary measures in response to the deteriorating security environment following the recent attacks on Iran. Governments across the region have stepped up air defense monitoring and emergency preparedness in case of spillover from the broader confrontation.While Kuwait has not publicly reported damage from incoming projectiles, officials have acknowledged the interception of drones and missiles launched from Iran in recent days.The deaths of the two officers were announced as authorities continued monitoring developments across the Gulf, where heightened tensions have prompted increased vigilance among civil defense and emergency services.

Trump’s comments on social media on Friday came hours after Iran’s president said unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising the possibility of a diplomatic resolution nearly a week after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. The fighting has since widened, with Iran responding by targeting Israel as well as Gulf states hosting U.S. military facilities.Escalating regional strikes Explosions were heard across Israel on Friday as Israeli air defenses activated to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia reported additional drone and missile attacks, underscoring the widening regional impact of the conflict.Israel also intensified operations in Lebanon, carrying out heavy air strikes on the capital Beirut after ordering residents to evacuate the city’s southern suburbs, an area considered a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

“We’re sleeping here in the streets some in cars, some on the street, some on the beach,” Jamal Seifeddin, 43, said after fleeing Beirut’s southern districts and spending the night in the city’s downtown area.Attacks inside IranIsrael launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iranian targets, saying about 50 of its warplanes attacked a bunker it said was still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath the destroyed Tehran compound of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Early on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Mehrabad Airport in Tehran had been struck. There was no immediate response from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard or Hezbollah.Iran’s envoy to the United Nations said the war had killed 1,332 Iranian civilians, providing one of the first official casualty figures since hostilities intensified.Lebanon front expandsIsrael’s military campaign has increasingly focused on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, as the country seeks to weaken the Shi’ite militia that has been closely aligned with Tehran and a major force in Lebanese politics since the 1980s.

Hezbollah fired on Israel earlier this week, saying the strikes were in retaliation for the killing of Khamenei, drawing Lebanon more directly into the conflict and raising fears that the war could widen further across the region.Uncertainty remains over whether mediation efforts could gain traction, even as fighting continues across multiple fronts and governments across the Middle East report fresh attacks.