Australia has demanded the immediate departure of Iran's ambassador after findings confirmed Tehran's role in two antisemitic arson attacks on Australian soil. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese disclosed that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) traced the incidents to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In 2024, ASIO identified the IRGC as the mastermind behind fires at a Sydney kosher restaurant and a Melbourne synagogue. "These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil," Albanese declared during a press briefing.
Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three diplomatic staff have one week to leave, a move unprecedented since World War II. Australia has also suspended its embassy operations in Iran to ensure staff safety and issued a travel warning for citizens to depart Iran promptly.
The IRGC – Iran's elite military force, notorious for quelling internal protests and funding Middle Eastern militias – will now be classified as a terrorist entity, aligning with a 2019 US designation. "I've said many times that the Australian people want two things: They want killing in the Middle East to stop, and they don't want conflict in the Middle East brought here. Iran has sought to do just that," Albanese emphasized.
"They have sought to harm and terrify Jewish Australians and to sow hatred and division in our community," he continued. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess detailed the IRGC's use of a sophisticated proxy network. "This was directed by the IRGC through a series of overseas cut-out facilitators to coordinators that found their way to tasking Australians," he stated.
The first incident occurred in October 2024, when Lewis' Continental Kitchen, a 50-year-old kosher eatery near Sydney's Bondi Beach, was set ablaze. In December 2024, Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue was torched by assailants using flammable liquid. Victoria's counter-terrorism unit has charged two men, with a third arrest made recently.
Since Israel's response to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, antisemitic acts in Australia have spiked. "ASIO is still investigating possible Iranian involvement in a number of other attacks. But I want to stress, we do not believe the regime is responsible for every act of antisemitism in Australia," Burgess clarified.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke condemned Iran's actions as an "extraordinary attack" that marked a "new and totally unacceptable low." "Australia was attacked and Australia was harmed," he asserted. Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned Australians against traveling to Iran, noting limited government protection. "I urge any Australian who might be considering traveling to Iran, please do not do so. Our message is, if you are an Australian in Iran, leave now if it is safe to do so," she urged.
