CANBERA
\nAustralia said on Tuesday it would expel Iran\u2019s ambassador to Canberra, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Tehran of executing two antisemitic attacks in the key cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
\n\u201cIran has sought to disguise its involvement, but ASIO assesses it was behind the attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on October 20 last year, and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on December 6.\u201d
\n\u201cThese were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,\u201d Albanese said. \u201cThey were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.\u201d Australia has suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran and all its diplomats were safe in a third country, Albanese said, adding that his government would designate Tehran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
\nMeanwhile, 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 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. No injuries were reported in the two attacks. Australia 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. Baqaei 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.Iran\u2019s reaction comes in response of Australian PM\u2019s allegations saying that Tehran was behind two arson attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CANBERA Australia said on Tuesday it would expel Iran\u2019s ambassador to Canberra, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Tehran of executing two antisemitic attacks in the key cities of Sydney and Melbourne. \u201cIran has sought to disguise its involvement, but ASIO assesses it was behind the attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-499258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n