Australia’s national security service has determined the Iranian government directed at least two antisemitic attacks in Australia – on Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney, and the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. It’s likely Iran’s regime has been behind even more attacks, according to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday that the Iranian ambassador to Australia is being expelled, as well as three other officials. They will have seven days to leave the country. The operation of the Australian embassy in Iran has been suspended and its staff moved to a third country for their safety.
The Lewis Continental Kitchen at Bondi was set on fire in October 2024. The Adass Synagogue in Ripponlea was firebombed and extensively damaged in December 2024.
ASIO informed the federal government on Monday of its assessment, and Iran was informed of the action around lunchtime Tuesday. Iran’s Foreign Ministry “absolutely rejected” the allegations, warning that “any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction.”
Albanese announced the decision to expel Iran’s ambassador at a joint news conference with the head of ASIO Mike Burgess, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
The prime minister also said the government would legislate to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. The IRGC represents the most powerful branch of the Iranian armed forces, and is independent of Iran’s regular army.
“Our painstaking investigation uncovered and unpicked the links between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC,” Burgess said. “The IRGC used a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement.”
He said there was a “layer-cake of cut-outs between IRGC and the person or the alleged perpetrators conducting crimes”:
In between them, they tap into a number of people, agents of IRGC, and people that they know in the criminal world, and work through there, so it’s a series of chains. There’s an organized crime element offshore in this. But that’s not to suggest organized crime are doing it. They [IRGC] are just using cut-outs, including people who are criminal and members of organized crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their bidding.
Burgess said ASIO assessed the Iranian government had likely directed more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia than the two that had been specified, and Australian intelligence was still investigating possible Iranian involvement in other attacks. But he stressed he did not believe the Iranian regime was responsible for every antisemitic attack in Australia.
Burke, the home minister, said Iran’s actions were “an unprecedented attack on our society,” one “aimed at creating fear, stoking internal divisions, and eroding social cohesion.”
Foreign Minister Wong said this was the first time in the postwar period that Australia had expelled an ambassador. “Iran’s actions are completely unacceptable,” she said. “We’ll continue to maintain some diplomatic lines to advance the interests of Australians.”
She said Australia had had an embassy in Iran since 1968, but that has never meant “an endorsement of the regime, it’s been a channel to advocate for our interests and for our people.”
Wong added, “However, the government has now taken the step to withdraw our ambassador to Iran and we have suspended the operations of our embassy in Iran for the safety of our officials and Australians’ broader security.”
Wong urged any Australian who might be considering travelling to Iran not to do so, and told Australians in Iran to leave if it was safe to do so.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
