Australia’s ambassador has left Tehran after Canberra expelled Iran’s envoy last month over alleged arson attacks on Jewish sites, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Thursday.
Baghaei said Iran reduced Australia’s diplomatic presence in response. “According to diplomatic norms and laws, in reaction to Australia’s action, we have also reciprocally reduced the level of Australia’s diplomatic presence in Iran,” he said.
He called the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador “unjustified” and added: “We do not welcome the reduction in relations, because we believe there was no reason or justification for this action, and this issue will affect the relations between the two nations.”
Canberra’s move
Australia last month ordered Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other diplomats to leave within seven days.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had evidence Iran directed two arson attacks on Jewish sites in Sydney and Melbourne in 2024.
Albanese said at the time that Australian diplomats had already left Tehran and were operating from a third country.
Iran rejects charges
Iran dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated. Baghaei said last month that “any inappropriate diplomatic action will be answered in kind,” accusing Canberra of acting under domestic political pressure.
“The concept being invoked [antisemitism] has no place in our religion,” he said, calling it part of a Western narrative. Baghaei also linked the decision to pro-Palestinian protests in Australia against Israel’s war in Gaza.
During a pro-Palestinian march across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge earlier last month, some demonstrators carried images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the rally, calling Khamenei “the most dangerous leader of fundamentalist Islam” and accusing protesters of aligning with radical elements.
“Leaving or staying in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) would not be decisive in whether others choose war against Iran because they have attacked us before despite the law,” Hossein Ali Haji Deligani said.
“If we have unity and cohesion inside the country, there will be no war. The possibility of war exists only when there is no cohesion,” Haji Deligani added.
Last week, Iran’s parliament held a closed-door session to discuss how to respond to European powers’ move to trigger the snapback mechanism, including leaving the NPT, with lawmakers insisting the measure would have little real economic impact.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would require Tehran to leave the treaty if UN sanctions are restored under the snapback mechanism.
Iran’s parliament -- not the government -- holds constitutional authority over membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Demands at the table
Iran’s conservative daily Farhikhtegan wrote on Thursday that the United States treats negotiations not as genuine diplomacy but as a tool to extract further concessions.
“Raising preconditions such as limiting the range of Iran’s missiles to 500 kilometers, cutting ties with the Axis of Resistance, and ending support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq are naturally demands that Iran will not accept,” the paper said.
‘Axis of Resistance’ is a term the Islamic Republic uses to refer to its proxy forces in the region, including Palestinian militant groups, the former Syrian regime, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and other factions.
“It is clear that Iran will not yield to accepting this threat,” Farhikhtegan added.
Iran supports Hezbollah and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) through logistical and financial means to expand its regional influence. Along with groups such as Yemen’s Houthis, these allies form part of Tehran’s wider proxy network in the Middle East.
Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, echoed the view on Tuesday, writing on X that Americans repeatedly use issues such as missile restrictions to press for gains.
“The path for negotiations with the US is not closed; yet these are the Americans who only pay lip service to talks and do not come to the table — and they wrongfully blame Iran for it,” Larijani said. “By raising unrealizable issues such as missile restrictions, they set a path which negates any talks.”
Europe’s snapback threat
Britain, France, and Germany — the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal — notified the United Nations in late August that they would pursue the reimposition of sanctions unless Iran returned to nuclear talks, granted inspectors wider access, and provided details on its uranium stockpile. European governments have stressed there is still time for diplomacy before sanctions formally return.
Iran has rejected the move, arguing that the Europeans themselves failed to uphold their commitments under the 2015 agreement after the US withdrawal in 2018.
European governments said they may extend the one-month deadline if Iran resumes direct talks with Washington, allows inspectors access, and clarifies its stockpiles.
The Herald said the drone program began in 2006 when Caracas signed a military deal with Tehran. Iranian firm Qods Aviation Industries supplied assembly kits, Venezuelan engineers trained in Iran, and Iranian teams later worked at the El Libertador Air Base in Maracay.
The program has since produced reconnaissance, armed and kamikaze drones modeled on Iranian systems.
“Cooperation with Iran was essential. Not only could Venezuela never have developed drones on its own, but even today it’s the Iranians who control those facilities. Venezuelan personnel can’t enter without their authorization,” one source who asked not to be identified told the Miami Herald.
The paper said it interviewed half a dozen people familiar with the ties between Caracas and Tehran and reviewed Venezuelan government documents — some signed by Chávez — that showed billions of dollars were funneled into the partnership.
Many projects were disguised as civilian ventures, such as bicycle or tractor factories, but served as fronts for more sensitive military work. At the core, Chávez sought weapons that could challenge US military power, the Herald reported.
US alarm over drones
Analysts at US think tanks, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Southern Command’s Diálogo Initiative, have described the drones as a “new asymmetric threat.”
They warn that the systems could be used not only against domestic opponents but also transferred to other governments or armed groups in Latin America.
Military buildup
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said earlier this month that Venezuela will deploy drones, warships and about 15,000 troops near Colombia. He said the move is aimed at defending sovereignty and combating drug trafficking.
The Trump administration has ordered guided-missile destroyers, amphibious ships, a cruiser, a submarine and thousands of Marines to the region as part of what it calls anti-narcotics operations. Caracas called the buildup hostile and appealed to the United Nations to intervene.
Broader Iran-Venezuela links
Concerns about Tehran’s role in Venezuela extend beyond drones. Earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported that more than 10,000 individuals from Iran, Syria, and Lebanon were allegedly granted Venezuelan passports between 2010 and 2019. Former US officials told the paper some recipients may already be in the United States.
Persian Gulf exercise as warning
In August, Iran staged its first major naval exercise since the June war with Israel. The two-day drill covered the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. State media showed launches of Qadir and Nasir anti-ship missiles, Ababil drones and electronic warfare systems.
“Iran used this exercise to demonstrate that it can target both military and commercial vessels,” Alma Research and Education Center wrote in a report. Footage of a drone tracking a container ship was described as a direct warning to global shipping companies.
Khamenei representative raises oil price threat
The assessment comes after a representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged restrictions on Western shipping in the strait. Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the hardline Kayhan newspaper, told the state broadcaster last week that such a move could drive oil prices to $200.
“We can impose restrictions against the United States, France, Britain and Germany in the Strait of Hormuz and not allow them to navigate,” Shariatmadari said. “Just by announcing such a restriction, the oil price will surge to $200, and the biggest economic blow will be dealt to the enemy.”
Global warnings
Western governments have said any closure would have severe consequences. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in June that it would be “economic suicide” for Iran.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the idea “extremely dangerous,” while British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it would be “a monumental act of self-harm.”
Iran has never attempted a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but it has repeatedly seized merchant ships in the Persian Gulf. Security analysts say its mines, fast boats, missiles, and special forces give it multiple options to disrupt global commerce.
