Tensions between Australia and Iran have reached a boiling point. Canberra has expelled Iran’s Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi along with three other diplomatic staff. The decision follows an intelligence report linking Iran to two anti-Jewish attacks on Australian soil.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the media, confirming the findings. Australia’s top security agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), named Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the group behind the incidents. Both attacks took place last year, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne.
While arson struck in Sydney’s Louis Continental Kitchen, a Jewish-owned restaurant near Bondi Beach, masked men targeted the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, hurling liquid inside and setting it ablaze.
The ASIO connected both events to IRGC involvement.
“This was a direct act of foreign aggression on Australian territory,” said Albanese during the press conference.
The government has given the expelled diplomats seven days to leave the country. Officials confirmed this is the first expulsion of a foreign ambassador from Australia since the Second World War.
Following the move, Australia also suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran. Citing safety concerns, the government urged Australian citizens still in Iran to leave without delay.
Prime Minister Albanese announced listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. The United States had already taken that step in 2019.
The prime minister added, “Australians want two things. They want the killings in the Middle East to stop. And they don’t want that conflict brought here. Iran tried exactly that.”
He said the attacks aimed to intimidate Jewish Australians and fuel division within the country.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess gave more insight into how the operations unfolded. He said the IRGC used intermediaries to carry out the plan. “They hired operatives outside Iran. Those intermediaries then tasked people inside Australia,” he explained.
The agency continues to examine Iran’s possible role in other incidents. Burgess clarified that not every anti-Jewish attack in Australia links back to Tehran. But the findings on these two cases were firm.
The October 2024 arson at Louis Continental Kitchen and the December fire at Adass Israel Synagogue both raised alarms across intelligence circles. The attacks showed coordination, intent and a broader strategy.
Australia’s response now enters a historic chapter. Diplomatic ties have suffered a severe blow. Security agencies remain on high alert. Canberra is perhaps trying to send out a message that foreign interference will not be tolerated.
