Australia accuses Iran of directing at least two antisemitic attacks as it expels ambassador

Australia accused Iran of having directed at least two anti -Semitic attacks in the country, expelling the Iranian ambassador to Canberra in response.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the Australian interior spy agency had “credible information” according to which Iran was behind two attacks on Jewish sites in Melbourne and Sydney last year, part of a series of what the Albanese called “appalling” acts of anti-Semitism in the country since the War of Israel Almost two years ago.

“These are acts of extraordinary and dangerous aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanian told journalists, adding that Iran had also directed other attacks.

“These are attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community,” he said. “It is completely unacceptable, and the Australian government has strong and decisive measures in response.”

In addition to expelling the Iranian ambassador, Australia has closed its embassy in Iran, all its diplomats already outside the country, said Albanese. He said that the body of the guards of the Islamic revolution, an elite military force faithful to the supreme leader of Iran, would also be listed as a terrorist organization.

The Israeli Embassy in Australia praised the designation as a “strong and important decision”.

“The Iranian regime is not only a threat to the Jews or Israel, but it endangers the whole 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 the October 20 attack last year on Lewis’s continental cuisine in Sydney and the December 6 attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. The two criminal fire attacks caused significant material damage, but no injury has been reported.

The Australian intelligence official Mike Burgess said that although all the country’s anti -Semitic incidents are not linked to Iran, the authorities investigate if Tehran was involved in other cases.

No Iranian or personal diplomat of the Embassy in Australia was involved in the attacks, he said.

This is the first time since the Second World War that Australia has expelled an ambassador, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, adding that the country will maintain “certain diplomatic lines” with Tehran to “advance the interests of Australians”.

Australia has struggled to fight against an increase in anti-Semitic attacks against houses, schools, synagogues and vehicles since the start of the War of Israel-Hamas on October 7, 2023, with a terrorist attack against Israel during which activists led by Hamas killed around 1,200 people and removed 251 others.

The war has since killed more than 62,000 people in the Gaza Strip managed by Hamas, according to the local Ministry of Health, whose figures are considered credible by the United Nations and other international experts.

Last week, the main global hunger authority said there was a famine in Gaza City, where Israel is going forward with a new military offensive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the conclusions of the report as a “lie” and said that Israel “had no famine policy”.

The war was a deep divisor in Australia, where thousands of people joined Pro-Palestinian rallies across the country on Sunday.

Albanese, who said that Netanyahu was “in the denial” of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, said this month that Australia would join an increasing list of Western governments by recognizing a Palestinian state. Netanyahu replied by calling Albanese “a weak politician who betrayed Israel”, saying that his political file had been “tarnished forever”.

Albanese played Netanyahu’s remarks, saying that he “does not take these things personally”.