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Australia has expelled Iran’s ambassador and three additional diplomats after determining that the Tehran regime directed at least two antisemitic attacks targeting Jewish institutions in Sydney and Melbourne in the past year.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the decision on Tuesday. He stated that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) coordinated the fire bombings of Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne through a complex network of intermediaries.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese said. “They sought to harm and terrify Jewish Australians and to sow hatred and division in our community.”
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 26, 2025
This marks Australia’s first expulsion of a foreign ambassador since World War II.
Read More Here: CAM Calls on World Leaders to Investigate Iranian Involvement in Global Antisemitism Following Australia’s Exposé
Jewish Targets Were Intentionally Firebombed
The first attack occurred on October 20, 2024. Arsonists set fire to Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, a kosher deli in Bondi that had served Sydney’s Jewish community for more than 50 years.
Later, on December 6, 2024, the second incident took place. Three masked men broke into the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, poured accelerant inside, and ignited the building. Police arrested two suspects and believe a third played a role. Investigators classified the fire as a likely act of terrorism.
Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, the ASIO, linked both attacks to Iran’s IRGC. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess explained that the IRGC relied on a multilayered network of intermediaries — including cut-outs, facilitators, and foreign proxies — to transmit orders to individuals in Australia. This complex system allowed Iran to mask its role while ensuring the attacks were carried out locally.
Australia to Designate IRGC as a Terrorist Group
In direct response, the Australian government will formally designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The IRGC serves as the Iranian regime’s ideological and military extension. For decades, it has supported proxy militias and exported terror abroad.
The United States designated the IRGC as a terrorist group in 2019. Australia will now join that international consensus after confirming that the group plotted and executed attacks on its own soil.
“These attacks were calculated to divide Australians and terrorize communities,” Albanese emphasized. “We will not allow foreign regimes to target our citizens or undermine our democratic society.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke called Iran’s actions “a new and totally unacceptable low.” Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed that Australia had already evacuated its diplomats from Tehran and relocated them to a third country.
Canberra Urges Australians in Iran to Evacuate Immediately
Following the announcement, Wong urged all Australian citizens in Iran to leave immediately. She made it clear that the government’s ability to provide consular assistance is now severely restricted.
“Iran has sought to undermine the cohesion of our community,” Wong said. “They have tried to divide the Australian community, and they’ve done so with acts of aggression that not only sought to terrify Australians, but put Australian lives in danger.”
“If you are an Australian in Iran, leave now if it is safe to do so,” she implored.
Although diplomatic channels will remain open, Australia’s formal relationship with Iran is now deeply strained. Iran’s embassy in Canberra has yet to issue a response to the expulsion order. However, regime-aligned media outlets dismissed the allegations and accused Australia of acting under “false pretenses.”
Australian Jewish Leaders Applaud Move but Remain Concerned
Jewish community leaders responded to Tuesday’s announcement with both support and concern. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) praised the government’s decision while warning of a broader threat.
Daniel Aghion, the council’s president, called the revelations deeply disturbing. “We have been targeted in a callous and calculated way by a ruthless and violent foreign force — because of who we are,” he said.
Burgess reinforced that warning. “Iran and its proxies, literally and figuratively, lit the matches and fanned the flames,” he said. “Their actions endangered lives and attempted to tear at the fabric of our democracy.”
ASIO is continuing to examine whether Iran played a role in additional antisemitic incidents across the country.
CAM’s Upcoming Australia Summit
This deeply troubling pattern of Iranian-directed attacks and rising domestic antisemitism comes just days before the in Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM)-organized Australian Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, set to take place next week in Gold Coast. The summit will bring together hundreds of local leaders from across the country committed to countering hate in their communities.
Yet even this initiative — focused on combating antisemitism at the municipal level — has faced pressure and smear campaigns aimed at delegitimizing its core purpose. As CAM CEO Sacha Roytman wrote this week, “Preventing mayors and municipalities from learning how to counter Jew-hatred denies Jewish communities the support they vitally need.”
When arson attacks target Jewish synagogues and businesses, it is not a moment for hesitation — it is a time for action. The upcoming summit underscores an urgent truth: confronting antisemitism is not political—it is a public safety imperative.
