According to Albanese, the Australian intelligence service Asio has linked Iran to acts against a restaurant in Sydney and a synagogue in Melbourne. Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in 2023, the two cities are said to have seen a significant increase in anti-Semitic acts.
Shortly before Tuesday's announcement, Iran's ambassador to Australia was informed that he would be expelled. The Australian government has also moved its diplomats in Tehran to another country, and decided to terror-classify Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Albanese's message comes just over a week after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia of not acting against anti-Semitism in the country.
Asio has gathered sufficient solid evidence to reach a very disturbing conclusion. The Iranian government has staged at least two of these attacks. Iran has tried to hide its involvement but Asio assesses that the (government) was behind the attacks, says Albanese to reporters now.
Israel's criticism followed Australia's decision to recognize a Palestinian state in September. Earlier in August, Netanyahu called Albanese a "weak politician who betrayed Israel".
