Australia has given Iran's ambassador seven days to leave the country after alleging the country's government directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Intelligence services linked Iran to an arson attack on a cafe in Sydney in October last year, and another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a press conference on Tuesday.
Albanese added the two incidents were 'attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.'
Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other officials have been ordered to leave Australia, which has withdrawn its own diplomats from Tehran. Iran has 'absolutely rejected' the allegations.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman added the decision to expel their envoy was 'driven by Australia's domestic policies.'
However, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) chief Mike Burgess said his teams had uncovered links 'between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC', following a 'painstaking', months-long investigation.
He added that IRGC had 'used a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement' in the attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney and Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue.
Australia's intelligence services found evidence suggesting Iran was likely behind other antisemitic incidents, which have surged since the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, an ally of Iran.
In the same period, there has also been a noted rise in Islamophobic incidents recorded by civil society groups.
Albanese described the findings as 'deeply disturbing', calling the incidents 'extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression.'
In a separate incident, a number of worshippers fled as a fire took hold of the synagogue, which was established by Holocaust survivors.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated this was the first ambassador expulsion by Australia since World War Two, urging Australians against traveling to Iran and advising those currently there to leave if safe.
Albanese's government will also designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The Israeli embassy welcomed Australia's actions against Iran.
