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The Australian government has accused Iran of being behind a spate of violent antisemitic attacks in the country and ordered the expulsion of its ambassador from Canberra.
Australia blamed Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for being involved in at least two antisemitic attacks last year, including the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne and an arson attack on a delicatessen in Bondi, Sydney.
The government moved to introduce legislation to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. The US and Canada already designate it as such.
Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, said that enough credible evidence had been gathered to reach what he called a “deeply disturbing conclusion” that the Iranian government was behind at least two of the attacks on the Jewish community.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil. This is an attack on our society, aimed at creating fear, stoking internal divisions and eroding social cohesion,” he said.
“Your aggression will not be tolerated,” he added, announcing the expulsion of Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi.
It is the first time Australia has ordered the expulsion of an ambassador since the second world war. Australia has also pulled its diplomatic staff from Tehran.
Amir Maimon, Israel’s ambassador to Canberra, hailed what he described as a “strong and important move” by Australia. The Iranian embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has accused Albanese’s government of failing to protect its Jewish community. Israel also cancelled the visas of Australian diplomats this month, in a spat that followed Albanese’s Labor government’s announcement that it would recognise a Palestinian state, and the refusal of a visa to far-right ultranationalist Israeli politician Simcha Rothman.
Jewish communities in Sydney and Melbourne have been targeted in a series of incidents in the past two years, which have included the firebombing of synagogues and attacks on businesses and individuals.
The wave of violence has escalated since the October 7 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian group Hamas, and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza.
Australia’s police force said in January that “overseas actors” may have paid local criminals to conduct the attacks.
Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said on Tuesday it was unlikely Iran was responsible for all the recent antisemitic attacks in the country, but a “painstaking” investigation had linked the IRGC to some of the most high-profile incidents.
“Iran and its proxies lit the matches and fired the flames,” he said.
