Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday that his country will expel Iran’s ambassador in Canberra, accusing Tehran of carrying out two antisemitic attacks in the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023, homes, schools, synagogues, and vehicles in Australia have been subjected to vandalism and arson motivated by antisemitism.

In the most recent incident in July, police charged a man with deliberately setting fire to a synagogue in Melbourne while worshippers were inside.

Albanese said during a press conference, “These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression carried out by a foreign state on Australian soil… They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community.”

He added that Australia has decided to suspend the operations of its embassy in Tehran and that all its diplomats are safe in a third country, noting that the Australian government will designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.