August 26, Tuesday: Australia on Tuesday expelled Iran's ambassador after blaming Tehran for orchestrating two antisemitic arson attacks targeting Jewish locations in Sydney and Melbourne, PM Anthony Albanese said, according to Reuters. Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three officials were ordered out within seven days which is the first envoy expulsion since World War Two.
Iran accused of orchestrating attacks
Albanese, in a statement to BBC News, mentioned that ASIO had collected credible intelligence showing Iran was responsible for the October fire at Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi and the December arson at Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue. "These were unprecedented and sinister acts of aggression plotted by a foreign power on Australian soil," he added, Reuters later reported. ASIO head Mike Burgess stated that the IRGC employed proxies and criminal networks to conceal involvement, Reuters reported.
Diplomatic consequences and domestic response
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong confirmed activities at Australia's embassy in Tehran have been suspended and staff withdrawn for security, BBC said. Albanese added that the government would also list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, Reuters reported. Israel's embassy in Canberra described the decision as "most welcome," and Jewish leaders said the attack on the synagogue, which destroyed a house of worship constructed by Holocaust survivors, has chilled the community, Reuters and BBC reported.
Iran dismissed the accusations and threatened a proportionate response through state media, BBC reported. Albanese justified the expulsions as being needed to defend Australia's sovereignty and social cohesion, Reuters reported. The measure is a dramatic increase in Canberra's response to foreign-led antisemitic violence and increases tensions related to the Israel-Gaza war.
