August 27, 2025 | 07:01 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Australia has denied claims that Israeli intervention prompted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government to expel the Iranian ambassador in Canberra, after the premier blamed Tehran for anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
"Complete nonsense," Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, as reported by Aljazeera, when asked about Israel's claim that PM Netanyahu influenced Australia's decision to expel Iran's ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi.
Albanese said on Tuesday that Australia had reached "deeply disturbing conclusions" through "credible intelligence," claiming that the Iranian government had "directed" at least two attacks on the Australian Jewish community.
Australia accused Iran of inciting anti-Jewish attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. The Australian government declared the Iranian ambassador in Canberra as persona non grata and gave him, along with three other Iranian officials, a seven-day deadline to leave the country.
Albanese also announced the suspension of their embassy operations in Tehran and the relocation of their diplomats to a third country.
Responding to questions from ABC regarding Australia's allegations against Iran, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer lauded Australia for responding to the threats against the Jewish community "seriously," which he believes arose after a "forthright intervention" from Netanyahu.
Mencer said Netanyahu had "made very forthright comments about [Australia's] prime minister himself," prompting Albanese to take action.
“He made those comments because he did not believe that the actions of the Australian government had gone anywhere near far enough to address the issues of anti-Semitism,” added Mencer.
ABC included Mencer's comments in an article titled: "Israeli government claims credit for pushing Albanese to expel Iranian diplomat."
Last week, Netanyahu accused Albanese of being a a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews. This came after Albanese announced that Australia would move to formally recognize the state of Palestine in September.
Iran Vehemently Denies
Iran then declared that it "absolutely rejected" Australia's allegations regarding the attacks and stated that the claims emerged after Australia directed "limited criticism" at Israel. Tehran also emphasized that Canberra should know that such actions will only embolden Netanyahu even further.
“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],” said Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei.
“Any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction,” said Baghaei.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also reacted to the development in a social media post on X, as reported by Mehr News.
“I am not in the habit of joining causes with wanted War Criminals, but Netanyahu is right about one thing: Australia's PM is indeed a 'weak politician.' Iran is home to among the world's oldest Jewish communities including dozens of synagogues. Accusing Iran of attacking such sites in Australia while we do our utmost to protect them in our own country makes zero sense."
“Iran is paying the price for the Australian people's support for Palestine. Canberra should know better than to attempt to appease a regime led by War Criminals. Doing so will only embolden Netanyahu and his ilk," he added.
Editor’s Choice: Australia Expels Iranian Ambassador Over Alleged Antisemitic Attacks
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