Australia yesterday expelled Iran’s ambassador, accusing the country of being behind anti-Semitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
It marks the first time Australia has expelled an ambassador since World War II.
Intelligence services reached the “deeply disturbing conclusion” that Iran directed at least two anti-Semitic attacks, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Photo: EPA
Tehran was behind the torching of a kosher cafe in October last year, he told a news conference.
It also directed a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December last year, he said, citing the intelligence findings.
No injuries were reported in the two attacks.
Photo: Reuters
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese said.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community,” he said.
An Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman denied the accusations and vowed “reciprocal reaction” to any unjustified diplomatic measures by Australia.
Australia declared Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi “persona non grata,” and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.
Australia also withdrew its own ambassador to Iran and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, which opened in 1968.
The Australian diplomats were all “safe in a third country,” Albanese said.
Australia will also legislate to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, he said.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) said it was the first time in the post-war period that Canberra had expelled an ambassador.
Canberra will maintain diplomatic lines with Iran to advance the interests of Australians, she said.
Although Australians have been advised not to travel to Iran since 2020, Wong said Canberra’s ability to provide consular assistance was now “extremely limited.”
“I do know that many Australians have family connections in Iran, but I urge any Australian who might be considering traveling to Iran, please do not do so,” she said.
“Our message is, if you are an Australian in Iran, leave now if it is safe to do so,” she said.
A “painstaking” intelligence service investigation had uncovered links between the anti-Semitic attacks and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Michael Burgess said.
The probe found that the Guard directed at least two and “likely” more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia, he said.
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