Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Tuesday that the Iranian government was behind at least two attacks against the country's Jewish community, The Guardian reported.
According to Australia's domestic spy agency, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization (ASIO), Iran directed the attacks on the Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen.
Albanese described the incidents as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil.” He added that ASIO assesses it is likely Iran directed further attacks as well. The Prime Minister stated the attacks were “attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community” and were “totally unacceptable.”
In response, Australia will expel the Iranian ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, suspend operations at its embassy in Tehran, and list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Australia has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in recent months. Days after the attack on the Melbourne synagogue, a car was set on fire, and two properties were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, which has a substantial Jewish population.
In another incident, the words "F— the Jews" were spray-painted on a car in Sydney.
In early January, the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah, a suburb of the city, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.
A day later, the Newtown synagogue, located in Sydney’s inner west, was vandalized with red swastikas that were spray-painted across the building’s front wall.
In another incident, a home in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, previously owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was vandalized.
Last month, an anti-Israel mob targeted a popular Israeli restaurant in Melbourne and an attempted arson attack took place at a local synagogue.