Australia expels Iranian ambassador over antisemitic attacks in Melbourne, Sydney
Canberra: Australia has expelled Iran’s ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi after intelligence services concluded that Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was responsible for two antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said intelligence agencies had reached the “deeply disturbing conclusion” that the IRGC orchestrated the October 2024 firebombing of the Lewis Continental Café, a kosher café in Sydney’s Bondi, and the December 2024 arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne. No casualties were reported in either incident, but Albanese described them as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression” aimed at undermining social cohesion in Australia.
The government has declared Ambassador Sadeghi persona non grata and ordered him, along with three other Iranian officials, to leave within seven days. Australia has also withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran and suspended embassy operations there. Foreign Minister Penny Wong underlined the gravity of the step, noting it was the first expulsion of a foreign ambassador by Australia since World War II. She warned Australians not to travel to Iran and urged those currently there to leave if it is safe to do so, citing “extremely limited” consular support.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) chief Michael Burgess said a detailed investigation confirmed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard directed at least two, and likely more, attacks on Jewish interests in Australia through a “complex web of proxies.” He said Iran’s actions were unacceptable, endangered lives, and threatened the country’s social fabric.
Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, welcomed the government’s findings but said the Jewish community remained anxious at being targeted “in such a callous and calculated way by a ruthless foreign force.” The Australian government has also announced plans to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, a move welcomed by Israel’s embassy in Canberra, which described it as a “strong and important step.” Iran’s embassy in Canberra has not immediately commented on the decision.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
ALSO READ: Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
