PM Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday that Australia has expelled Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi after accusing Iran of directing antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) provided credible evidence linking Iran to at least two attacks on the Jewish community since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel.
PM Albanese revealed that Iran attempted to disguise its role, but ASIO determined that Tehran orchestrated the incidents.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community,” he said.
He confirmed that the government would take ‘strong and decisive action’ in response.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the agency identified two IRGC-ordered attacks: an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue in December 2024 and an attack on a kosher restaurant in Sydney in October 2024.
He explained that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directed the operations through organised crime contacts while using proxies to conceal its involvement.
Albanese said the government will move to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. He added that Australia’s embassy in Tehran has suspended operations, with all diplomats relocated safely to a third country.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong stressed the gravity of the decision, noting that this marks the first expulsion of an ambassador from Australia since World War II. She urged Australians in Iran to leave the country if it is safe to do so.
Australia declared three other Iranian officials persona non grata and ordered them to leave within seven days, alongside Sadeghi.
Burgess confirmed that ASIO believes Iran was behind additional planned attacks. While clarifying that Iranian embassy staff did not participate directly, he emphasised that the IRGC orchestrated the incidents through a ‘complex web of proxies’.
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