Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday that Ahmad Sadeghi, the Iranian ambassador to Canberra, along with three other embassy officials, had been expelled and had seven days to leave Australian soil.
He also announced the suspension of the activities of the Australian embassy in Tehran and the transfer of the country’s diplomats to a third country for security reasons.
Albanese claimed that he made these decisions in response to credible intelligence from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) indicating that Iran was behind two anti-Semitic attacks on Australian soil, including the fire at the Jewish restaurant Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney in October 2024 and the Adas Israel synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024.
He described the attacks as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression by a foreign state on Australian soil” aimed at undermining social cohesion and creating division.
