Australia is to expel Iran's ambassador over Tehran's involvement in two anti-Semitic attacks in Melbourne and Sydney.
Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other officials have been given seven days to leave the country. It is the first expulsion of an ambassador from Australia since the Second World War, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation had linked Tehran to attacks on a restaurant in Sydney and a synagogue in Melbourne.
“ASIO has gathered enough credible intelligence to reach a deeply disturbing conclusion,” he said, referring to the country's main domestic spy agency. “The Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. Iran has sought to disguise its involvement, but ASIO assesses it was behind the attacks.”
Iran rejected the accusation and vowed reciprocal action. "The accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a weekly press conference, that "any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction".
He stated that Tehran believed the decision was rooted in "domestic developments" in Australia.
Australia will also legislate to list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, Mr Albanese added.
Since the outbreak of Israel's war on Gaza, Australian homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles have been the target of vandalism and arson. In October last year, there was an arson attack on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher takeaway and catering business, in Bondi, Sydney.
In December, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was the target of an arson attack. Police charged a man in July and arrested a second suspect this month. “These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Mr Albanese said.
The expulsion of the Iranian diplomat comes amid a growing rift between Australia and Israel, after Canberra announced it would recognise a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Mr Albanese of “betraying” Australia's Jewish community, one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors per capita.
“While anti-Semitism is raging in Australia, including manifestations of violence against Jews and Jewish institutions, the Australian government is choosing to fuel it,” Mr Netanyahu said on X after Canberra denied a visa to far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
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More coverage from the Future Forum
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8.15pm (UAE)
Sunday: Chelsea v Southampton, 6pm (UAE)
Matches on Bein Sports
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
