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Prime minister says expelled Iranian ambassador’s pledge to keep Aussies safe can’t be trusted

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeated his call for Australians not to visit Iran, just hours after the country’s ambassador departed for Tehran.
Last night at Sydney Airport, expelled diplomat Ahmad Sadegh described allegations his country was behind antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne as “baseless” in an impromptu press conference.
Before boarding his flight, Ahmad declared Australians visiting Iran were safe.

Speaking with Today this morning, Albanese was quizzed by host Karl Stefanovic whether the expelled envoy could be taken at his word.
“No, in a word,” replied Albanese.
“And I hope he didn’t slam the door on the way out, because it was a big decision by the government.

“No ambassador has been expelled from Australia in the post-war period. That says something about how significant this was.
“But this was an attack on Australian soil orchestrated by a foreign power. Completely unacceptable. And we took appropriate strong action.”
Since 2020, the federal government has urged Australians not to visit Iran, saying it was hard for officials to provide consular assistance. 
Speaking at Sydney Airport last night, the ambassador broadly echoed the denials issued by his government, while labelling Canberra’s accusation that Iran was behind at least two attacks on Australian soil as “machination and just conspiracy”.
The diplomat was expelled on Tuesday in response to the firebombings of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney last year, an “unprecedented attack” spy agency ASIO pinned on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The guard, which is tightly integrated with the Iranian state, will also be declared a terrorist organisation.
Sadeghi denied the accusation, repeating the Iranian line that it was made in some sort of response to Israel’s furious reaction to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state.
Despite his ignominious exit, which the ambassador blamed on a “misunderstanding” in the diplomatic relationship”, he said Iran kept a “very good sensation” towards his former host.
“I had a very good mission within these two years and a half here,” he said.
“I advise you to go beyond, you know, this sort of fabrication, of these conspiritual (sic) things that the enemy of both of us, the enemy of Iran and enemy of Australia, are bringing, you know, sort of false allegations in order to just undermine our friendly relations.”
The ambassador condemned the attacks on the Israeli community but said claims Iran was behind them were “baseless allegations and lies”, coming from “third parties”.

He said the position taken by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke for the nation, but did not repeat his personal attacks on Albanese as “weak”, a reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extraordinary salvo earlier this month.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess on Tuesday said his agency’s months-long investigation uncovered links between the two incidents and the IRGC, which he said used “a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement”.
It was the first time Canberra has declared a foreign ambassador persona non grata since the end of World War II.
”These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese said.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.”
One of Sadeghi’s supporters spent minutes haranguing the gathered reporters before the ambassador spoke with them.

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