Australia has given Iran’s ambassador seven days to leave the country after alleging the country’s government directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Intelligence services linked Iran to an arson attack on a cafe in Sydney in October last year, and another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a press conference on Tuesday.
Albanese added the two incidents were “attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community”.
Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other officials have been ordered to leave Australia, which has withdrawn its own diplomats from Tehran. Iran has “absolutely rejected” the allegations.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman added the decision to expel their envoy was “driven by Australia’s domestic policies”.
However, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) chief Mike Burgess said his teams had uncovered links “between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC”, following a “painstaking”, months-long investigation.
“They’re just using cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organised crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their bidding,” Mr Burgess told reporters.
He added that IRGC had “used a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement” in the attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on 20 October, and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue on 6 December.
Australia’s intelligence services had also found evidence Iran was likely to be behind other antisemitic incidents in Australia, which has seen attacks on Jewish schools, homes, vehicles and synagogues since the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, Iran’s ally, and the ensuing war in Gaza.
In the same period of time, civil society group the Islamophobic Register has also recorded a rise in Islamophobic incidents.
Police first indicated they were looking into the possibility that attacks on Jewish-linked property were being directed by “overseas actors or individuals” back in January.
The findings revealed on Tuesday were “deeply disturbing”, Albanese said, describing the two incidents as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression”.
In the second incident, a number of worshippers were forced to flee as the fire took hold of the synagogue, which was built by Holocaust survivors in the 1960s.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was the first time since World War Two that Australia had expelled an ambassador.
The ambassador was not found to have any links to the attacks, Mr Burgess stressed.
Wong said Australia would continue to maintain some diplomatic lines with Tehran but had suspended operations at its embassy in Iran for the safety of staff.
She also urged Australians not to travel to Iran and called for any citizens in the country to leave now if it is safe to do so.
Albanese said his government would also designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
Israel’s embassy in Canberra has welcomed the moves against Iran, which Israel fought a 12-day war with in June.
“Iran’s regime is not only a threat to Jews or Israel, it endangers the entire free world, including Australia,” it said in a statement on X.
