TEHRAN – When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced cameras in Canberra on Tuesday to announce the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador, he looked like a judge delivering a verdict in what English speakers call a kangaroo court.

A kangaroo court is a fake trial that is heavily biased. In such a process, the outcome is decided in advance, evidence that proves the defendant's innocence is ignored, and the accused is not given the proper chance to mount a defense. 

Albanese justified his decision by claiming that the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) had concluded Iran was responsible for two "antisemitic attacks" that occurred last year: one targeting a diner in Sydney and the other a synagogue in Melbourne. He said the attacked were “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation” to undermine social cohesion in Australia.

Despite making these serious accusations, Albanese presented no supporting evidence. Notably, earlier this year, Australia’s federal police said 15 reported antisemitic incidents across the country, which enabled the government to rush through new laws that target pro-Palestinian protests, had been orchestrated by organized crime figures, and not supposed antisemites. 

Albanese also alleged that Iran had likely “directed more attacks” and declared his intention to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), the country's most powerful military branch, as a terrorist organization – a move that would further strain the traditionally frictionless ties between Tehran and Canberra. 

Are Iranians antisemitic?

The first official Iranian reaction to the expulsion and accompanying accusations came from Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman. Esmaeil Baghaei, speaking at his weekly press conference, announced that Iran would take retaliatory steps and dismissed antisemitism as a “Western phenomenon.”

“If you look at history, persecution of Jews because of their religion is a matter rooted in Europe; and it is they who must be held accountable for their historical past, which has continued to this day,” Baghaei stated. 

When contacted by the Tehran Times, the representative of Jewish people in Iran’s parliament, Homayoun Sameh Yah Najafabadi, affirmed the spokesman's remarks on antisemitism. “Jews have been living in Iran for at least 2,500 years,” he said. “While Jewish populations have been expelled and killed in places like Europe, we have managed to live alongside other Iranians for centuries without being discriminated against for our religious beliefs.”

Sameh Yah, a pharmacist, represents the approximately 10,000 Jews who live in Iran. The country's constitution mandates representation for religious minorities, and one seat in the parliament is reserved for a member of the Jewish community.

He said he finds claims that Iran’s government has directed antisemitic attacks in a foreign country very hard to believe. “I witness every day how Iran’s authorities treat Jews with respect and do their best to ensure our community can practice its religion with comfort. I think the claims made by Australia are ridiculous.”

The MP cited specific provisions for Iran's Jewish community as compelling indicators of the respect afforded to the religious minority by Iranian politicians. For instance, Jews have their own designated schools and also have the option to send their children to schools predominantly attended by Muslims. “In some areas of Iran, our schools have very few students,” he explained. “But the government still provides the necessary budget to operate them, even if only one student is attending a class in a city where Jews are scarce.”

He also described a system that facilitates religious observance for university students. If a Jewish student is accepted to a university in a city without a community, the government helps facilitate a transfer to a city with a larger Jewish population. “We need access to Kosher food and synagogues,” Sameh Yah noted. “This is why most Iranian Jews are able to complete their education in Iran. Our doctors, engineers, and artists have all graduated from top Iranian universities.”

Regarding their treatment in broader society, Sameh Yah believes conditions have continuously improved over the past century, especially in the past four and half decades. "At the end of the day, Iranian Jews are just Iranian. We are one with Muslims, Christians, and Zoroastrians. Nobody treats us differently because of our religion.”

Australia’s links to Mossad

Australia’s intelligence and security assessments regarding West Asia are not independent; they are largely sourced from American and Israeli agencies, namely the CIA and Mossad. However, this was not always intended to be the case.

Under Prime Minister Edward Gough Whitlam (1972-1975), Australia sought to chart a more neutral and independent path in the region. His government was critical of Israel’s post-1967 occupation, viewing it as an obstacle to peace, and worked to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with Arab nations. However, this independent trajectory was halted before it could fully develop.

In 1975, Mossad informed Australia’s security agency, ASIO, that it had uncovered Palestinian assassination plots against Australian figures. Among the alleged targets was Bob Hawke — then-President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and a fervent critic of Whitlam’s stance on Israel, who later became Prime Minister in 1983. 

Details of the alleged plot were revealed in Cabinet papers declassified in 2007. Palestinian ambassador Ali Kazak dismissed the claims as Mossad propaganda designed to discredit Palestinians and inflate ASIO's budget. No evidence was ever offered to prove the plots were true. Nonetheless, the incident became a tool for Mossad to distance Canberra from Palestinians and position itself as a crucial security partner for Australia. This dynamic persists, and was recently used by media to dissuade Australia from recognizing a Palestinian state at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly. “What’s Mossad ever done for us? Just kept countless Aussies safe,” wrote The Australian, before referring to the alleged 1970s plots and Whitlam’s “naivety”. 

The plan to recognize a Palestinian state in September, along with some of the world's largest anti-Israel protests in Australia, has immensely angered Israeli leaders. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled Australian PM Albanese a “weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to agree with Netanyahu’s assessment—though for entirely different reasons. Responding to Canberra’s expulsion of Iran’s ambassador, Araghchi wrote on X: “I am not in the habit of joining causes with wanted War Criminals, but Netanyahu is right about one thing: Australia's PM is indeed a ‘weak politician’... Iran is paying the price for the Australian people's support for Palestine. Canberra should know better than to attempt to appease a regime led by War Criminals. Doing so will only embolden Netanyahu and his ilk.”

During recent anti-Israel protests in Sydney, demonstrators carried posters of Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and images of Iranian generals and scientists killed during Israel’s war against Iran back in June.