Iran has vowed reciprocal action after Australia expelled its ambassador over accusations that Tehran was behind anti-Semitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
"The accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press conference on Tuesday, adding that "any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction".
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier that Iran was behind the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney's Bondi suburb in October 2024, and directed a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December of the same year.
No injuries were reported in the two attacks.
Australia declared Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi "persona non grata" and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.
It also withdrew its own ambassador to Iran and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran, which opened in 1968.
Baqaei said the measures appeared to be "influenced by internal developments" in Australia, including recent protests against Israel's war on Gaza.
"It seems that this action is taken in order to compensate for the limited criticism the Australian side has directed at the Zionist regime (Israel)," he added.
Earlier, relations between Israel and Australia took a downward slide after Canberra’s centre-left government under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on August 11 the recognition of the Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised Albanese, asserting that the Australian Prime Minister’s legacy has been irrevocably blackened by his “weakness” towards Hamas.
In an interview with Sky News Australia, Netanyahu said that Albanese’s record would be “forever tarnished” by his decision to recognise a Palestinian state.
