Iran vowed reciprocal action on Tuesday after Australia expelled its ambassador over accusations that Tehran was behind antisemitic 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, 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 in 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.
Australia will also legislate to list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, Albanese said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was the first time in the post-war period that Australia had expelled an ambassador.
Canberra will maintain diplomatic lines with Iran to advance the interests of Australians, Wong said.
Though Australians have been advised not to travel through Iran since 2020, Wong said Canberra's ability to provide consular assistance was now "extremely limited".
"I do know that many Australians have family connections in Iran, but I urge any Australian who might be considering travelling to Iran, please do not do so," she said.
"Our message is, if you are an Australian in Iran, leave now if it is safe to do so."
Australian spy chief Michael Burgess said a "painstaking" intelligence service investigation had uncovered links between the antisemitic attacks and Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
The probe found that the Guard directed at least two and "likely" more attacks on Jewish interests in Australia, said Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
'Fanned the flames'
The Revolutionary Guard, the ideological arm of Iran's military, used a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement in the attacks, he said.
Iran's embassy in Australia and its diplomats were not involved, however, the spy chief said.
The Australian intelligence service was still investigating possible Iranian involvement in a number of other attacks, Burgess said.
Last year's fire at the cafe in Bondi gutted the outlet, although police initially said there was nothing to suggest it was a targeted attack.
The blaze at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was one of the most destructive in a string of antisemitic incidents following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the nearly two-year genocidal war in Gaza.
The fire destroyed much of the synagogue, shocked Australians and was tagged by police as a "likely terrorist incident".