Australia has expelled Iran’s ambassador after intelligence confirmed Tehran was behind two anti-Semitic attacks targeting the Jewish community in Sydney and Melbourne.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the decision, revealing that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had gathered credible evidence that the Iranian government directed the October 2024 attack on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney and the December firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Mr Albanese said in Canberra.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable.”
Appearing alongside the Prime Minister, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said Iran was also believed to be behind further attacks.
“They put lives at risk, they terrified the community and they tore at our social fabric. Iran and its proxies literally and figuratively lit the matches and fanned the flames.”
Australia has not only expelled Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other diplomats, but also suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, and will legislate to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley described the revelations as “one of the most egregious acts of foreign interference against our nation since the darkest days of the Cold War,” throwing her support behind the expulsions and the IRGC listing.
The Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) said it was “deeply disturbed by revelations that Iran was involved in the planning and execution of multiple antisemitic attacks on Australian soil.” President Jeremy Leibler welcomed the government’s actions, saying they sent “a powerful and principled message that terrorism, foreign interference, and hate have no place in Australia.”
ZFA CEO Alon Cassuto added that the “infiltration and normalisation of terrorism and extremism in Australia” was “nothing but shameful,” citing images of prominent Australians and several MPs past and present standing in front of a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Australian Jewish Association (AJA) said the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador was “long overdue” and accused the Albanese Government of failing to act until Australians were placed at risk.
AJA CEO Robert Gregory said, “The Albanese Government deserves no credit for acting only after Australians were placed in danger”
“Despite repeated warnings, the government failed to act in a timely manner, leaving the Jewish community and Australia’s national security exposed.”
Mr Gregory added that the AJA, alongside the Iranian diaspora and other Jewish organisations, had for years urged the government to expel the ambassador and proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
Melbourne-based academic and former hostage of IRGC Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert said the Iranian-Australian community and victims of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had long warned authorities about Tehran’s activities in Australia.
“For years now the Iranian-Australian community and other victims of the IRGC, including myself, have been literally screaming … that Iranian agents are operating brazenly and with few consequences here on Australian soil,” she said.
Dr Moore-Gilbert, who has personally petitioned successive foreign ministers to sanction IRGC officials, said the government’s decision was overdue but welcome. “Now finally, the government is taking action. I applaud Albanese and Wong for stepping up and taking decisive action against a brutal regime which has long shown itself to be an enemy of the Australian people. It’s such a shame that it’s taken them so long.”
ASIO investigators are reported to have pieced together a complex web of encrypted communications, cryptocurrency flows and financial transactions spanning multiple countries.
ASIO has warned that Iran is likely to have orchestrated further operations, intensifying fears about foreign interference and antisemitism in Australia.
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
