Australian PM accuses Iran of being responsible for two arson attacks \u2014 an allegation rejected by Tehran
\n TEHRAN\/SYDNEY
\nIran has vowed reciprocal action after Australia expelled its ambassador over accusations that Tehran was behind antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
\n\u201cThe accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected,\u201d said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press conference, adding that \u201cany inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction\u201d.
\nAustralian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier that Iran was behind the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney\u2019s Bondi suburb in October 2024, and directed a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December of the same year.
\nNo injuries were reported in the two attacks.
\nAustralia declared Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi \u201cpersona non grata\u201d and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.
\nIt also withdrew its own ambassador to Iran and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, which opened in 1968.
\nBaqaei said the measures appeared to be \u201cinfluenced by internal developments\u201d in Australia, including recent protests against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.
\n\u201cIt seems that this action is taken in order to compensate for the limited criticism the Australian side has directed at the Zionist regime [Israel],\u201d he added.
\n\u2018Dangerous acts of aggression\u2019
\nIran\u2019s reaction comes in response of Australian PM\u2019s allegations saying that Tehran was behind two arson attacks.
\nPM Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had gathered credible intelligence that Iran had directed at least two attacks.
\n\u201cThese were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,\u201d Albanese told a press briefing. \u201cThey were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.\u201d
\nIran had sought to \u201cdisguise its involvement\u201d in last year\u2019s attacks on a kosher restaurant in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Albanese said. No injuries were reported in the attacks.
\nIran\u2019s embassy in Canberra did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nAustralia\u2019s security agency said it was likely that Iran had directed further attacks, Albanese said, adding that Australia has suspended operations at its Tehran embassy and all its diplomats were safe in a third country.
\nThe government will designate Tehran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, Albanese added.
\nForeign Minister Penny Wong said Ambassador Sadeghi and three Iranian officials had seven days to leave, in Australia\u2019s first expulsion of an envoy since World War II.
\n\u201cIran\u2019s actions are completely unacceptable,\u201d she told the briefing.
\nThe IRGC was directing people in Australia to undertake crimes, said Mike Burgess, director general of the security agency.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re just using cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organised crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their bidding,\u201d he added.
\nIsrael\u2019s embassy in Australia welcomed the action against its major rival Iran.
\n\u201cIran\u2019s regime is not only a threat to Jews or Israel, it endangers the entire free world, including Australia,\u201d it said in a statement on X.
\nThe two countries fought a 12-day air war in June, after Israel launched attacks on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities.
\nIran\u2019s actions were an attack on Australia\u2019s sovereignty, said Daniel Aghian, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), an umbrella group of more than 200 organisations.
\n\u201cThese were attacks that deliberately targeted Jewish Australians, destroyed a sacred house of worship, caused millions of dollars of damage, and terrified our community,\u201d he said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australian PM accuses Iran of being responsible for two arson attacks \u2014 an allegation rejected by Tehran TEHRAN\/SYDNEY Iran has vowed reciprocal action after Australia expelled its ambassador over accusations that Tehran was behind antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. \u201cThe accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected,\u201d said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-499257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n