Australia expels Iranian envoy over antisemitic attacks

KABUL (Pajhwok): Australia has accused Iran of carrying out two antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne and gave the Iranian ambassador seven days to leave the country and suspended the operation of its embassy in Tehran, reports New York Times.

Intelligence services linked Iran to an arson attack on a cafe in Sydney in October last year, and another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a press conference on Tuesday.

Albanese added the two incidents were “attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community”.

Mike Burgess, Australia’s head of intelligence, said a months-long investigation had uncovered links between the two attacks and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which Australia said it would designate as a terrorist organization. Burgess said organized crime groups outside Australia had been involved in the attacks, but he declined to elaborate.

Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other officials have been ordered to leave Australia, which has withdrawn its own diplomats from Tehran. Iran has “absolutely rejected” the allegations.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency wrote on the matter: “Australia has taken a hostile step and, under false pretences, expelled Iran’s ambassador from the country.”

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