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.
