LONDON — Australian officers on Tuesday mentioned they might expel Iran’s ambassador after accusing Tehran of directing antisemitic assaults in Sydney and Melbourne final yr.
Australia’s intelligence company, ASIO, mentioned it decided Iran was behind assaults on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney on Oct. 20 and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on Dec. 6, in response to authorities officers.
“These had been extraordinary and harmful acts of aggression orchestrated by a international nation on Australian soil,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese informed reporters throughout a press convention in Canberra on Tuesday, in response to an official transcript.
The Iranian nationwide flag flies over the Iranian embassy constructing in Canberra on Aug. 26, 2025.
Hilary Wardhaugh/AFP through Getty Pictures
ASIO in a press release mentioned intelligence officers had “uncovered and unpicked” hyperlinks between the assaults and commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accusing the Iranian navy of utilizing a “complicated internet of proxies” to cover its involvement within the assaults in Australia.
Australia’s legislators will search to checklist the IRGC as a terrorist group, Albanese mentioned.
“ASIO now assesses the Iranian Authorities directed not less than two and certain extra assaults on Jewish pursuits in Australia,” Director-Normal of Safety Mike Burgess mentioned in a statement.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media throughout a press convention at Parliament Home in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 26, 2025.
Lukas Coch through Reuters
Operations on the Australian embassy in Tehran had been suspended, Albanese mentioned, including that Australian diplomats left the nation. Iranian diplomatic employees in Australia weren’t concerned in directing the assaults, Burgess mentioned.
Australian International Minister Peggy Wong mentioned the alleged acts of aggression by Iran had “have crossed a line.”
“That is the primary time within the post-war interval that Australia has expelled an envoy,” Wong mentioned. “And we’ve made this choice as a result of Iran’s actions are fully unacceptable.”
