Australia expels Iran ambassador after

Australia has directed Iran’s ambassador to depart the nation within seven days, claiming that Iran’s authorities orchestrated anti-Semitic assaults in Sydney and Melbourne.

Iran was linked to an arson assault on a cafe in Sydney in October 2024, along with another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a press convention on Tuesday.

Albanese said the incidents have been “attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.”

Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi has been ordered to depart along with three other officers. Australia has also withdrawn its own diplomats from Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran has “absolutely rejected” the allegations, with the nation’s international ministry spokesman calling the choice to expel Sadeghi pushed by Australian home insurance policies.”

However, Australian Security Intelligence Organization chief Mike Burgess and his team have found links “between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC,” after a “painstaking” months-long investigation.

“They’re just utilizing cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organised crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their bidding,” Burgess told the media.

He added that IRGC had “used a complicated web of proxies to disguise its involvement” in attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on October 20, 2024, and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on December 6 of that year.

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Australian intelligence also found evidence that Iran was likely behind other anti-Semitic incidents in the country, which has seen attacks on Jewish homes, schools, and synagogues since the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas in Israel.

During this same time, however, there has also been a rise in Islamophobic incidents, according to the Islamophobic Register.

“The period noticed more than double the quantity of verified incidents in contrast to any earlier reporting period, including bodily assaults requiring hospitalisation, an arson assault, a real explosive machine left at a residence, and widespread verbal abuse including threats of homicide and rape,” reported the Islamophobic Register.

In January, Australian police first said they were looking into the possibility of the attacks on Jewish-linked properties as being directed by “abroad actors or people.”

Albanese described the findings on Tuesday as “deeply disturbing,” describing the incidents as “extraordinary and harmful acts of aggression.” In the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue, several worshippers were forced to flee the area.

This has been the first time since World War II that Australia has expelled an ambassador, said Foreign Minister Penny Wong. However, Burgess said there was no evidence to show that Sadeghi was connected to the attacks.

Wong added that Australia would maintain its diplomatic ties with Tehran, but had suspended operations at its embassy in the country for the safety of the staff.

She also urged Australians not to travel to Iran and called for citizens in the country to leave as soon as possible, but only if it’s safe to do so. The IRGC will also be designated as a terrorist organization in Australia, said Albanese.

The Israeli embassy in Canberra has praised the moves against Iran. Just earlier this year, the countries were embroiled in a war that lasted 12 days.

“Iran’s regime isn’t only a risk to Jews or Israel, it endangers the whole free world, including Australia,” the embassy said in a assertion on X.