Tehran has denied allegations from Canberra that it orchestrated two arson attacks against Australia’s Jewish community.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced Australia’s decision to expel Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi along with three other diplomats. This action follows allegations that Tehran orchestrated ‘anti-Semitic’ attacks within Australia. Iran promptly refuted these claims.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Albanese stated that the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had amassed “reliable intelligence” connecting at least two arson incidents from the previous year to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite division of Iran’s military. These alleged attacks targeted a Jewish-owned establishment in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.
The prime minister further mentioned that investigations were underway into potential Iranian involvement in several additional attacks.
Mr. Albanese also indicated that Canberra had suspended its embassy operations in Tehran, with diplomatic personnel being moved to a different nation.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong issued an urgent recommendation for Australian citizens to depart Iran.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi used a post on X to reject the accusations, highlighting Iran’s substantial Jewish population and numerous synagogues.
Araghchi’s statement read: “While I do not typically align with wanted war criminals, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s assessment on one point is accurate: Australia’s Prime Minister is undeniably a ‘weak politician’.”
This comment seemingly referenced a previous post by Netanyahu last Tuesday, where the Israeli prime minister criticized Albanese for allegedly betraying “Israel and abandoning Australia’s Jews” following Canberra’s announcement of its intent to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.
At that time, Netanyahu had written: “History will record Albanese as what he is: a weak politician.”
Israel’s intense military operations in Gaza have elicited global condemnation, prompting renewed calls for Palestinian state recognition in nations that have historically supported Israel.