Australia accused Iran on Tuesday of directing at least two anti -Semitic attacks in the country, expelling the Iranian ambassador to Canberra in response.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Australia’s national espionage agency had “credible intelligence” that Iran was behind two attacks against Jewish sites in Melbourne and Sydney last year, part of a series of what Albanese called “frightening” acts of anti-Semitism in the country from the Israel-Ahamas war began almost two years ago.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese told journalists, adding that it was considered likely that Iran had also directed other attacks.
“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 measures in response.”
In addition to expelling the Iranian ambassador, Australia has closed her embassy in Iran, with all her diplomats already outside the country, Albanese said. He said that the body of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, an elite military force of the Supreme Leader of Iran, would also appear as a terrorist organization.
The Israeli embassy in Australia welcomed the designation as a “strong and important movement.”
“Iran’s regime is not just a threat to Jews or Israel, but it endangers everyone free, including Australia,” the embassy said in a statement over X.
Albanese said that the Australian Security Intelligence Organization had evaluated that Iran was behind the attack from October 20 to October 20 against Lewis continental cuisine in Sydney and the attack of December 6 to the synagogue of Adass Israel in Melbourne. The two attacks caused caused significant damage to the property, but no injuries were reported.
Australia’s intelligence official, Mike Burges, said that although not all antisemy incidents in the country are linked to Iran, the authorities are investigating whether Tehran was involved in other cases.
No Iranian diplomat or embassy personnel in Australia was involved in the attacks, he said.
This is the first time since World War II that Australia has expelled an ambassador, said Foreign Minister Penny Wong, added that the country will maintain “some diplomatic lines” with Tehran to “advance the interests of the Australians.”
Australia has struggled to address an increase in antisemy attacks against homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles since the Israel-Ahamas war began on October 7, 2023, with a terrorist attack against Israel during which militants led by Hamas killed some 1,200 people and dried up to another 251.
Since then, the war has killed more than 62,000 people in the Gaza Strip, administered by Hamas, according to the local Ministry of Health, whose numbers are considered credible by the United Nations and other international experts.
Last week, the main authority of the world in hunger declared that there was a famine in the city of Gaza, where Israel is moving forward with a new military offensive. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, rejected the reports of the report as a “lie” and said that Israel “does not have a star policy.”
The war has been deeply divisive in Australia, where thousands of people joined pro-palestinian demonstrations throughout the country on Sunday.
Albanese, who said that Netanyahu was “in denial” about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, said this month that Australia would join a growing list of Western governments by recognizing a Palestinian state. Netanyahu responded by calling Albanese “a weak politician who betrayed Israel,” saying that his political history had been “fogged forever.”
Albanese played Netanyahu’s comments, saying that he does not “take these things personally.”
