Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australia will also designate the IRGC as a ‘terrorist entity’.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Iran of directing at least two anti-Jewish attacks in his country and announced plans to expel Iran’s ambassador to Canberra.
Speaking to reporters in the Australian capital on Tuesday, Albanese described the attacks, which took place in Sydney and Melbourne last year, as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation” with the aim of undermining social cohesion in Australia.
“It is totally unacceptable, and the Australian government is taking strong and decisive action,” he said.
“A short time ago, we informed the Iranian ambassador to Australia that he will be expelled.”
The prime minister said Australia has also suspended operations at its embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and moved all of its diplomats to a third country.
“I can also announce the government will legislate to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a terrorist organisation,” he added.
The attacks took place at the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on October 10 and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on December 6, according to Australian officials. There were no casualties in either of the attacks, but in both incidents, assailants set fire to both properties, causing extensive damage.
Penny Wong, the Australian foreign minister, said the Iranian ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, and three of his colleagues have been declared persona non grata and given seven days to leave the country. She said the move marked the first time that Australia has expelled an ambassador since World War II and that the country has also withdrawn its envoy to Tehran.
Still, the Albanese government will maintain some diplomatic lines with Iran to advance Canberra’s interests, Wong said, advising Australians in the Middle Eastern country to return home. She also warned Australians considering travelling to Iran to refrain from doing so.
There was no immediate comment from Iran.
