By Noureddine Omar | 2025-09-12

Australia has expelled Iran's ambassador, closed its embassy in Tehran and moved to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization after uncovering the regime's role in two antisemitic arson attacks on Jewish community sites.

It is the first time since World War II that Canberra has expelled a foreign ambassador.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the firebombings of a kosher deli in Sydney and a synagogue in Melbourne as "dangerous acts of aggression" designed to fracture Australian society.

The country's intelligence agency confirmed that the attacks were carried out by local criminal proxies recruited and financed by Iranian operatives.

Destabilizing activity

The plot was hidden through layers of intermediaries, a hallmark of regime-directed covert action, terrorism experts told Al-Fassel.

They said the attacks reveal the IRGC's deliberate effort to export instability.

Lawyer Mohammed al-Abdullah said the IRGC "attempted to undermine security in Australia," using methods it has applied in other countries to exploit divisions and weaken social cohesion.

The IRGC has used this approach repeatedly, inflaming tensions, creating security gaps and then exploiting them, he told Al-Fassel.

Military analyst Wael Abdul Muttalib called Canberra's measures a significant shift in "confronting Iran's schemes."

But he stressed the need to keep investigating "the cells operating on the ground," pointing to evidence that Jewish targets were chosen deliberately through local networks manipulated by Iranian handlers.

The revelations have caused anguish in Australia's Jewish community.

Alex Ryvchin, from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said they confirmed "our community's worst fears."

"These attacks instigated by the Iranian regime are an attack on our nation and our sovereignty, and as Australians, we are outraged by them," he said.

Global pattern

Australia's findings mirror a growing body of evidence overseas.

Security services in the United Kingdom and Sweden have accused Tehran of orchestrating violent operations through hired operatives.

The IRGC follows a consistent playbook: exploit criminal networks, target Jewish communities and cover its tracks through contracted groups.

Australia's spy chief Mike Burgess said this method was used in the Sydney and Melbourne attacks.

He confirmed a series of intermediaries were employed to "conceal Iran's involvement" and warned that the regime may already have directed other plots in Australia.

Abdul Muttalib said the revelations expose the duplicity of Iran's leaders.

"The IRGC's export of terrorism, and its attacks on Jewish communities in particular, confirm that Iranian officials are lying when they deny targeting ordinary Jews," he said.

He stressed that the international response is not aimed at the Iranian people, but at their rulers who spread terror to serve their interests.

Confronting Tehran's covert influence is not only about protecting one community but about defending the fabric of a multicultural democracy from hostile interference, officials say.