Australia has given Iran’s ambassador one week to leave the country after accusing the Islamic republic of orchestrating two antisemitic arson attacks in Melbourne and Sydney.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organization has uncovered credible evidence to suggest that Iran had organized at least two arson attacks directed at a synagogue in Melbourne and a Kosher restaurant in Sydney.
Two men have been charged in connection with the attacks, and no injuries were reported in either incident.
The security intelligence agency said Iran was likely behind other attacks in Australia but has worked to disguise its involvement.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Mr. Albanese told reporters Tuesday. “They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.”
Intelligence agency Director Mike Burgess said Iran recruited local criminals to carry out the arson attacks in place of Iranian agents.
“They’re just using cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organized crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their bidding,” Mr. Burgess told reporters.
Iranian Ambassador to Australia Ahmad Sadeghi and three other Iranian officials have one week to leave the country.
Mr. Albanese added that Australia will designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Australia has also ended all its operations at its embassy in Tehran, with all diplomats having moved to an undisclosed country.
However, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would keep some diplomatic ties to Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry decried the expulsion, with spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei asserting that “any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction.” He added that antisemitism has “no place in our culture, history, or religion.”
Israel’s Australian Embassy welcomed the decision, calling the Iranian government a threat to the “entire free world, including Australia.”
The Australian government’s actions against Iran mark its first diplomatic expulsion since World War II. It also comes at a low point in relations between Israel and Australia. Over the weekend, dozens of pro-Palestinian street protests took place across Australia, with activists claiming more than 350,000 attended the rallies.
The protests follow the Albanese government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state on Aug. 11. Israel condemned the decision, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Mr. Albanese’s legacy is now “tarnished.”
The expulsion is also bad news for Iran, as it scrambles to rebuild its international reputation following its 12-day air war with Israel in June. European leaders have attacked Iran’s decision to expel international nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and have threatened to reimpose United Nations-backed sanctions at the end of August.
