Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other Iranian officials have been declared persona non grata in Australia. Photo: File.
Iran’s ambassador to Canberra, Ahmad Sadeghi, has been expelled from Australia following revelations that the Iranian government orchestrated antisemitic attacks against the Australian Jewish community.
It is the first post-war expulsion of an ambassador from Australia.
Anthony Albanese announced the expulsion on Tuesday (26 August), saying ASIO had confirmed the Iranian government was behind the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, the Continental Kitchen in Sydney, and that it likely directed other attacks in Australia.
The Prime Minister also announced that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be listed as a terrorist organisation.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Mr Albanese said.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.”
The Australian embassy in Tehran has suspended its operations, with all diplomats removed to a third country.
The Federal Government ensured they were removed from Tehran before making its move on the Iranian embassy in Canberra.
“Any attack on our social cohesion is an attack on Australia,” the Prime Minister said.
“We are proud of the country that we’ve built. A country where people can live overwhelmingly side by side of different faiths, of different backgrounds, in harmony.
“We cherish it. We protect it. We defend it. And that’s what we’re doing here today.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that the ambassador and three other Iranian officials have been declared persona non grata and must leave Australia within seven days.
“Iran has sought to undermine the cohesion of our community, they have tried to divide the Australian community, and they have done so with acts of aggression that not only sought to terrify Australians, but put Australian lives in danger,” she said.
“Keeping Australians safe is our number one priority.
“There is no doubt that these extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil have crossed a line.”
Senator Wong said Australia would endeavour to keep open some diplomatic ties with Tehran, but she has urged Australians not to travel to Iran and for any who might currently be there to leave.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation would require a new “regime” under Australia’s criminal code, and introducing it was an appropriate reaction to the antisemitic attacks.
“It’s true that no one was injured in these attacks. It is not true that no one is harmed,” he said.
“There’s antisemitism in Australia. It’s real. It’s debilitating … This sends the strongest possible signal that this conduct has reached a new and totally unacceptable low.
“The existing regime, designed decades ago, was not intended to deal with the threats we are now facing.”
ASIO alerted the government on Monday to the evidence of Iran being behind recent antisemitic attacks in Australia.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the agency, along with the Australian Federal Police, “uncovered and unpicked” links between the attacks and the IRGC’s commanders and their use of proxies or “cut-outs”.
He said Iran’s diplomats in Australia were not involved in the attacks.
The Israeli embassy in Australia responded quickly to Australia’s decision to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, issuing a statement in support of the move.
“Iran’s regime is not only a threat to Jews or Israel, it endangers the entire free world, including Australia,” it said.
It added that it was “a strong and important move”.
Tensions between Australia and Israel have heightened recently over Mr Albanese’s decision to formally recognise Palestine at the United Nations next month, and the government’s refusal to grant a far-right Israeli MP entry into Australia.
Responding in Federal parliament to the decision to expel the Iranian ambassador, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley offered the Coalition’s support, saying the IRGC’s involvement in antisemitic attacks in Australia was “brazen”.
“We are all disgusted to learn of the serious and chilling foreign interference, which has been perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran on Australian soil,” Ms Ley said.
“I therefore want to make it abundantly clear from the Opposition, while we sit opposite the government in this chamber, we’re entirely united on the measures announced today to expel the Iranian ambassador and list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
