ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday accused Iran of carrying out at least two anti-Semitic attacks in the country over the past years, expelled the Iranian ambassador, and said Canberra will legislate to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) “has 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 October 20 last year, and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on December 6 last year.”
“I can also announce, the Government will legislate to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a terrorist organisation,” he stated.
Australia declared Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi “persona non grata” and ordered him and three other officials to leave within seven days. The Australian embassy in Tehran also suspended all operations and removed all diplomats from the country.
Australian spy chief Mike Burgess said that for the past ten months, anti-Semitism had been one of the agency’s top priorities, involving the “full use” of its authority.
“We have investigated dozens of incidents targeting Jewish communities, places of worship, businesses, and prominent individuals,” he said. “ASIO now assesses the Iranian Government directed at least two and likely more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia.”
The IRGC used a complex web of proxies to mask its involvement, according to Burgess, who also said that after October 24, Iran shifted from “intimidating behaviours to direct targeting of people, businesses and places of worship.”
He stressed that Australia does not believe that Iran is responsible for every anti-Semitic attack in the country, but said it initiated the first of them.
Iran’s foreign ministry slammed the accusations as “baseless,” linking them to challenges Australia faced with Israel after “protests against the Zionist regime.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi further lashed out at Albanese, calling him a “weak politician.”
“Iran is home to among the world's oldest Jewish communities including dozens of synagogues. Accusing Iran of attacking such sites in Australia while we do our utmost to protect them in our own country makes zero sense,” he said on X.
The move to expel Iran’s ambassador comes after Albanese announced on August 11 that Canberra’s recognition of a Palestinian state will be formalized at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later called Albanese a “coward” who betrayed Israel by “recognising a Palestinian state.”
“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said on social media last week.
