Australia expels Iranian ambassador, accuses Iran of directing antisemitic attacks on its soil.
Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi, accusing the country of organizing two anti-Semitic attacks last year. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization said Iran was behind arson attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company, in Sydney in October last year and on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.Australian authorities have previously said they suspect that foreign actors are paying local criminals-for-hire to carry out attacks in the country. Police arrested at least one suspect in the Sydney cafe fire investigation and two suspects directly accused of torching the Melbourne synagogue.
Two antisemitic attacks in Australia
Sayed Mohammed Moosawi, a 32-year-old Sydney-based former chapter president of the Nomads biker gang, has been charged with directing the fire bombings of the Sydney café as well as the nearby Curly Lewis Brewery. Giovanna Laulu, a 21-year-old man from Melbourne, was charged last month with being one of three masked arsonists who caused extensive damage to the synagogue in December.Australia also withdrew diplomats posted in Iran to a third country, Albanese said.
‘Leave Iran’
An alert to Australians in Iran noted the embassy’s closure and urged them to “strongly consider leaving as soon as possible, if it is safe to do so.” “Foreigners in Iran, including Australians and dual Australian-Iranian nationals, are at a high risk of arbitrary detention or arrest,” the warning read. Iran denied Australia’s allegations as its foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Australia is facing challenges with Israel after it announced that it would recognize a Palestinian state. “It looks like that the action, which is against Iran, diplomacy and the relations between the two nations, is a compensation for the criticism that the Australians had against the Zionist regime,” Baghaei claimed.
