Overview

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three staff persona non grata with seven days to depart, in Australia’s first ambassador expulsion since World War II.
• ASIO attributed arson at Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney on Oct. 20, 2024, and the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on Dec. 6, 2024, to direction from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• Canberra suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran and relocated Australian diplomats to third countries, as officials urged Australians in Iran to leave and warned against travel.
• ASIO said the IRGC used overseas cut-outs and local intermediaries to mask its role and confirmed ongoing probes into possible links to other attacks, while noting Iranian diplomats in Australia were not involved.
• Police have charged two men over the Melbourne synagogue fire and made related arrests in the Sydney case, while Iran denies the allegations and has hinted at reciprocal diplomatic steps.