TEHRAN/SYDNEY: Iran has vowed reciprocal action after Australia expelled its ambassador over accusations that Tehran was behind antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
“The accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press conference, adding that “any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier that Iran was behind the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney’s 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 “persona non grata” and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.
It 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 “influenced by internal developments” in Australia, including recent protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.
“It seems that this action is taken in order to compensate for the limited criticism the Australian side has directed at the Zionist regime [Israel],” he added.
Iran’s reaction comes in response of Australian PM’s allegations saying that Tehran was behind two arson attacks.
PM Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had gathered credible intelligence that Iran had directed at least two attacks.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese told a press briefing. “They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.”
Iran had sought to “disguise its involvement” in last year’s attacks on a kosher restaurant in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Albanese said. No injuries were reported in the attacks.
Iran’s embassy in Canberra did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Australia’s security agency said it was likely that Iran had directed further attacks, Albanese said, adding that Australia has suspended operations at its Tehran embassy and all its diplomats were safe in a third country.
