Australia on Tuesday accused Iran of directing at least two antisemitic attacks in the country, expelling the Iranian ambassador to Canberra in response.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s domestic spy agency had “credible intelligence” that Iran was behind two attacks on Jewish sites in Melbourne and Sydney last year, part of a series of what Albanese called “appalling” acts of antisemitism in the country since the Israel-Hamas war began almost two years ago.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese told reporters, adding that it was considered likely that Iran had directed other attacks as well.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community,” he said. “It is totally unacceptable, and the Australian government is taking strong and decisive action in response.”
In addition to expelling the Iranian ambassador, Australia has closed its embassy in Iran, with all of its diplomats already out of the country, Albanese said. He said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite military force loyal to Iran’s supreme leader, would also be listed as a terrorist organization.
The Israeli Embassy in Australia welcomed the designation as a “strong and important move.”
“Iran’s regime is not only a threat to Jews or Israel, it endangers the entire free world, including Australia,” the embassy said in a statement on X.
Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organization had assessed that Iran was behind last year’s Oct. 20 attack on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney and Dec. 6 attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne. The two arson attacks caused significant property damage, but no injuries were reported.
Australian intelligence official Mike Burgess said that while not all of the country’s antisemitic incidents are tied to Iran, authorities are investigating whether Tehran was involved in other cases.
No Iranian diplomats or embassy staff in Australia were involved in the attacks, he said.
This is the first time since World War II that Australia has expelled an ambassador, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, adding that the country will maintain “some diplomatic lines” with Tehran to “advance the interests of Australians.”
Australia has struggled to address a surge in antisemitic attacks on homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023, with a terrorist attack on Israel during which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251 others.
The war has since killed more than 62,000 people in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry, whose numbers are considered credible by the United Nations and other international experts.
Last week, the world’s leading authority on hunger declared there was a famine in Gaza City, where Israel is pushing ahead with a new military offensive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the report’s findings as a “lie” and said Israel “does not have a policy of starvation.”
The war has been deeply divisive in Australia, where thousands of people joined pro-Palestinian rallies across the country on Sunday.
Albanese, who said Netanyahu was “in denial” about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, said this month that Australia would join a growing list of Western governments in recognizing a Palestinian state. Netanyahu responded by calling Albanese “a weak politician who betrayed Israel,” saying his political record had been “tarnished forever.”
Albanese played down Netanyahu’s remarks, saying he doesn’t “take these things personally.” (NBC)
