KEY POINTS
- Australia declares Iran’s Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi “persona non grata”.
- Iran’s envoy and three officials given seven days to leave Australia.
TEHRAN/SYDNEY: Iran has vowed reciprocal action after Australia expelled its ambassador over accusations that Tehran was behind arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Iran rejected the accusations.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said “the accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected”, saying “any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction”.
Baghaei also said the measures appeared to be “influenced by internal developments” in Australia, including weekend protests across the country against Israel’s bombardment campaign in Gaza, which organisers said were the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations in Australia’s history.
“It seems that this action is taken in order to compensate for the limited criticism the Australian side has directed at the Zionist regime [Israel],” the spokesperson added.
Earlier today, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Iran was behind the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney’s Bondi suburb in October 2024, and directed an arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December of the same year. No injuries were reported in the two attacks.
Australia declared Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi “persona non grata” and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.
It also withdrew its own ambassador to Iran and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, which opened in 1968.
‘Dangerous acts of aggression’
PM Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had gathered intelligence that Iran had directed the attacks.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese told a press briefing.
Iran had sought to “disguise its involvement” in last year’s attacks on a kosher restaurant in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Albanese said. No injuries were reported in the attacks.
Albanese said Australia has suspended operations at its Tehran embassy and all its diplomats were safe in a third country.
Israel’s embassy in Australia welcomed the action against its major rival Iran.
