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SYDNEY: Australia expelled Iran's ambassador on Tuesday (Aug 26), accusing the country of being behind antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
It marks the first time Australia has expelled an ambassador since World War II.
Intelligence services reached the "deeply disturbing conclusion" that Iran directed at least two antisemitic attacks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Tehran was behind the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney's Bondi suburb in October 2024, the prime minister told a news conference.
It also directed a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024, he said, citing the intelligence findings.
No injuries were reported in the two attacks.
"These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil," Albanese said.
"They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community."
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman denied the accusations and vowed "reciprocal reaction" to any unjustified diplomatic measures by Australia.
Australia declared Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi "persona non grata" and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.
- 'Web of proxies' -
Australia also withdrew its own ambassador to Iran and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, which opened in 1968.
The Australian diplomats were all "safe in a third country", the prime minister said.
Australia will also legislate to list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, Albanese said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was the first time in the post-war period that Australia had expelled an ambassador.
Canberra will maintain diplomatic lines with Iran to advance the interests of Australians, Wong said.
Though Australians have been advised not to travel through Iran since 2020, Wong said Canberra's ability to provide consular assistance was now "extremely limited".
"I do know that many Australians have family connections in Iran, but I urge any Australian who might be considering travelling to Iran, please do not do so," she said.
"Our message is, if you are an Australian in Iran, leave now if it is safe to do so."
Australian spy chief Michael Burgess said a "painstaking" intelligence service investigation had uncovered links between the antisemitic attacks and Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
The probe found that the Guard directed at least two and "likely" more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia, said Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
- 'Fanned the flames' -
The Revolutionary Guard, the ideological arm of Iran's military, used a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement in the attacks, he said.
Iran's embassy in Australia and its diplomats were not involved, however, the spy chief said.
The Australian intelligence service was still investigating possible Iranian involvement in a number of other attacks, Burgess said.
The Jewish community may find some solace in the investigation breakthrough, said Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
"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," he said.
Last year's fire at the cafe in Bondi gutted the outlet, although police initially said there was nothing to suggest it was a targeted attack.
The blaze at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was one of the most destructive in a string of antisemitic incidents following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
The fire destroyed much of the synagogue, shocked Australians and was tagged by police as a "likely terrorist incident".
- 'Important move' -
Any fallout from Australia's actions against Iran was likely to be constrained by the two countries' limited ties, said Australian National University counter terrorism expert Levi West.
"We don't have any defence arrangements like we do with other Middle East countries or intelligence relationships," he told AFP.
Israel's embassy in Australia welcomed the government's decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
"This is a step we have long advocated for," it said in a statement posted on social media. - AFP
