Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has directed the Chief of the Defence Force to take whatever actions are necessary to protect and defend military and diplomatic personnel and keep Australians safe. The Philippines has ordered the evacuation of its citizens in Iraq. Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo repeated his plans to deploy the Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East to ensure the safety of its ships. He called on nations involved to make diplomatic efforts to ease tensions and avoid further escalation.

French President Emmanuel Macron asked Iranian President Hassan Rouhani not to escalate tensions. In a phone call, Macron told Rouhani that France was “deeply worried” by recent events in the Middle East and asked Rouhani “to refrain from taking any action that would aggravate rising tensions.

Some of Canada’s 500 military personnel based in Iraq will be temporarily moved to Kuwait for safety reasons.

NATO and EU called on Iran to avoid “further violence and provocations”, as tensions mount in the Middle East after US forces killed Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, and Iran fired ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US military personnel on Tuesday. 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg asked Tehran to avoid “further violence and provocations”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Iran will not benefit from tension escalation.

A special EU meeting will be held on Friday to discuss the US-Iran conflict and the future of the Iran nuclear deal. EU officials want to mobilize all resources to prevent any tension rise.