KOTA BARU: The Defence Ministry (Mindef) is prepared to deploy the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) to the Middle East to provide support in handling the safety of Malaysian students following the Iran-Israel conflict, says deputy minister Adly Zahari.

       He said Mindef will discuss with the Foreign Ministry and obtain information on the latest developments of the situation in the Middle East.

       “If there is a request for assistance, Mindef will provide it, but we have not received any.

       “We will continue to communicate and collaborate, including with the Higher Education Ministry, given that the students involved are under that ministry,” he said.

       Adly said this during the Jiwa Komuniti Madani programme and the Madani Hari Raya celebration here yesterday, Bernama reported.

       On Friday, Israel launched an attack on Iran after Teheran launched 300 drones and missiles towards Tel Aviv last weekend, which were mostly intercepted.

       Iran unleashed the massive aerial strike in retaliation for a suspected Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus early this month.

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       On the welfare of MAF veterans, Adly said there are 212,000 pensionable and non-pensionable veterans, adding that their data is updated through the Vibes 2.0 system, allowing them to receive assistance.

       Stressing that no veteran is left behind, he said 27,000 individuals out of 41,000 non-pensionable veterans nationwide are receiving the Bantuan Sara Hidup assistance, totalling RM300 per month based on the poverty line of RM1,196.