Australia Expels Iranian Ambassador Over Alleged Role in Anti-Semitic Arson Attacks

ASIO confirms Tehran directed synagogue and restaurant firebombings.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (R) and Director-General of ASIO Mike Burgess speak to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on Aug. 26, 2025. Behind them stand Reece Kershaw (L), commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador and the suspension of Australia’s embassy operations in Tehran after ASIO confirmed Iran was behind anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish targets in Melbourne and Sydney.

Albanese said the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had gathered “credible intelligence” showing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) directed at least two attacks: the Oct. 20, 2024 arson incident at Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney, and the Dec. 6, 2024 firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.