The ministry made the reaction late on Tuesday after the Australian government ordered Iran’s Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other officials to leave Australia over what it described as antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne in the past months. Australia also withdrew its own diplomats from Tehran.
The Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations of spreading antisemitism and expressed regret over “the unjustifiable decision” that contradicted the tradition of the diplomatic ties between Iran and Australia.
“It is a historical and documented reality that antisemitism is basically a Western-European phenomenon that has emerged in various forms in different periods of time,” the ministry further said, adding that the phenomenon has increasingly been misused in recent years to crush any protest against Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians.
The ministry also said Australia’s move to level allegations against Iran and the targeting of the bilateral diplomatic relations align with Israel’s policy to divert the public opinion from the genocide in Gaza and the escalating tensions in West Asia.
“The Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while reserving its right to take reciprocal action, calls on the Australian side to reconsider its wrong decision,” the statement read.
It added that the responsibility of the consequences of this decision, including the issues that would be created for the Iranian community in Australia, lies on the government in Canberra.
