Iran slams Australia envoy's ouster, warns of response
Iran has condemned Australia’s decision to expel its ambassador and said the move will not go unanswered, calling it a politically driven act tied to Australia’s internal affairs.
Iran has condemned Australia’s decision to expel its ambassador and said the move will not go unanswered, calling it a politically driven act tied to Australia’s internal affairs.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Tuesday that “any inappropriate diplomatic action will be answered in kind,” and that Iranian officials were reviewing their response. He said the allegations were “completely baseless” and described the accusations as part of a broader Western narrative.
Australia on Tuesday ordered Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other diplomats to leave the country within seven days. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said intelligence from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation indicated Iran was behind two arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in Sydney and Melbourne last year. He also said Australian diplomats had already left Tehran and were now in a third country.
Iran rejects charges, links move to public pressure
Baghaei said the accusations were unfounded and rejected suggestions of religious or ethnic bias. “The concept being invoked [antisemitism] has no place in our religion,” he said, adding that it is a Western construct used for political purposes.
He also suggested the decision was linked to domestic political pressure in Australia. “Millions have protested in Australia against the genocide in Gaza,” he said. “This move against Iran, which is a move against diplomacy, appears to be compensation for the limited criticism Australia has directed at the Zionist regime.”
Earlier this month, during a pro-Palestinian march across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge, some demonstrators carried images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the protest, describing Khamenei as “the most dangerous leader of fundamentalist Islam” and accusing participants of aligning with radical elements.
“They have a chute that goes right down deep into the mountain. And they shouldn’t have put ventilation in, I can tell you that, because we used it to our advantage,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The United States struck three Iranian nuclear facilities — at Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow — with long-range bombers and submarine-launched missiles on June 22.
The operation, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, involved B-2 stealth bombers armed with 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) — so-called “bunker busters” designed to penetrate fortified underground facilities.
“The United States studied Fordow for 15 years, identified its weaknesses, and developed weapons for that exact purpose — which led to modifications of the MOP used during the attack,” General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on June 26.
Ventilation shafts were the most effective entry point identified in planning analysis, Caine said, adding that a total of 14 MOPs were dropped on targets at Fordow and Natanz.
“We’re looking at the mission you just accomplished with Iran — 36 hours back and forth. Flawless. Every bomb hit its target. They went right down those chutes. Dark at night, no moon, no nothing. Every target, every bomb went right down,” Trump added.
Trump praised the precision strikes and said Iran’s nuclear facilities targeted in the attacks were “totally obliterated.”
The opposite of what Carter did in Iran
Trump compared the June 22 attacks on Iran to the Carter administration’s failed hostage rescue mission on April 24, 1980, calling it the “exact opposite.”
“We had 52 tankers — people don’t realize — so that they could refuel. We had many fighter jets, F-22s, F-35s. It was an amazing operation. It was flawless,” Trump said.
“Compare that to the operation when they went in with the helicopters crashing, everyone running around the desert, and prisoners being taken. And there was Jimmy Carter. What a horrible thing. This was the exact opposite,” Trump added.
The Tabas attack, known as Operation Eagle Claw, was an effort ordered by President Jimmy Carter to rescue 52 American diplomats taken hostage in Iran by revolutionary forces.
Eight helicopters were sent to a staging area called Desert One in the Tabas Desert, but only five arrived operational due to hydraulic problems, a sandstorm, and a cracked rotor blade.
The mission was aborted due to insufficient functioning helicopters. During withdrawal, a helicopter collided with a C-130 transport plane, killing eight American servicemen and destroying both aircraft.
