Australia expels Iranian ambassador after Iran tied to attacks on Jewish community
The Australian government will also move to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, after ASIO announced Iran's direct involvement in arson attacks on Jewish targets
The Australian government has announced that it will expel the Iranian ambassador and legislate to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, after Australia’s domestic intelligence service concluded that Iran was behind attacks on the Australian Jewish community.
Earlier this morning, Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, made a televised statement, in which he described how “since the terrible events of 7 October 2023, we have witnessed a number of appalling antisemitic attacks against Australia’s Jewish community. I have made it clear that these sorts of incidents have no place in Australia, and that I wanted ASIO [the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation] and the AFP [Australian Federal Police] to investigate as a priority.
“ASIO has now gathered enough credible intelligence to reach a deeply disturbing conclusion; that the Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. Iran has sought to disguise its involvement, but ASIO assesses it was behind the attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on 20 October last year and the Addas Israel synagogue in Melbourne on 6 December last year.”
Both Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher deli in Sydney’s Bondi beachfront neighbourhood, and the Addas Israel synagogue in Melbourne were targeted by arson attacks.
The chief of ASIO, Mike Burgess, has described how his organisation has uncovered “a complex web of proxies” and a “layer cake of cut-outs” used by the IRGC in attempts to disguise its role in the attacks”. Apart from the two incidents directly mentioned by Prime Minister Albanese, Burgess said it was “likely” that the Iranian regime was behind further attacks on the Australian Jewish community, saying that ASIO had “investigated dozens of incidents.
Burgess said that “Iran and its proxies literally and figuratively lit the matches and fanned the flames … there’s a direct connection that the IRGC are directing, through a series of cut-outs, people in Australia to undertake these crimes.”
Prime Minister Albanese described the findings as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil. They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable and the Australian government is taking strong and decisive action in response.
“A short time ago we informed the Iranian ambassador to Australia that he would be expelled. We have suspended operations at our embassy in Tehran and all our diplomats are now safe in a third country. I can also announce the government will legislate to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a terrorist organisation.”
Iran’s embassy has been closed and the country’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, has reportedly been given seven days to leave the country, in what is understood to be the first time the country has expelled an ambassador since World War Two.
The Australian Prime Minister went on to describe how he had “said many times that the Australian people want two things. They want killing in the Middle East to stop, and they don’t want conflict in the Middle East brought here. Iran has sought to do just that.”
The President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry [ECAJ], Daniel Agion, said:
“The Australian Jewish community is deeply grateful to the men and women of the AFP, ASIO, and state police forces for their single-minded focus and dedication to investigating these attacks, bringing the perpetrators to justice, and protecting all Australians from terrorism.
“These attacks instigated by the Iranian regime are an attack on our nation and our sovereignty. As Australians, we are outraged that a foreign actor perpetrated acts of terror on our soil. Foremost, these were attacks that deliberately targeted Jewish Australians, destroyed a sacred house of worship, caused millions of dollars of damage, and terrified our community.”
ECAJ’s figures have previously confirmed that antisemitic targeting of Australia’s Jewish community has soared since 7 October 2023, with more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents in the country from that point until October 2024.
“For many years, we have warned of the threat posed by the Iranian regime”, Agion said.
“This is not a regime that merely subjugates its own citizens and wages war in the Middle East through its proxies. It has consistently shown a willingness and capability to finance and orchestrate terror all over the world. The organ of the regime directly responsible for this is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). We welcome and appreciate the Australian government’s decision to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
“Israel’s enemies are Australia’s enemies. This is apparent. The same regime that helped plan the 7 October atrocities, directed Hezbollah to open a second front against Israel, attacked Israel directly with ballistic missiles and threatened it with nuclear annihilation, is responsible for plotting and executing criminal attacks against Australians.”
The President of Australia’s foremost Jewish organisation went on to say that “the Iranian regime has demonstrated that antisemitism is a threat not only to the Jews, it is a threat to civilisation.
“Our community will perhaps find some solace from this breakthrough in the investigation and in knowing that the skill and devotion of our law enforcement and security agencies is there to protect us. Yet there will be great anxiety that we have been targeted in such a callous and calculated way, by a ruthless and violent foreign force, because of who we are.”
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