Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has requested official advice on “appropriate next steps” following Australia’s expulsion of Iran’s ambassador and move to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the expulsion yesterday after the country’s spy agency said it had “credible evidence” that the Iranian government directed at least two anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish premises in Sydney and Melbourne.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil.”
Iran denied the allegations through its Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, who tried to link it to the challenges Australia faced with Israel after the government announced it was preparing to recognise a Palestinian state.
“It looks like that the action, which is against Iran, diplomacy and the relations between the two nations, is a compensation for the criticism that the Australians had against the Zionist regime,” Baghaei said.
The Australian government was now drafting laws to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation.
It was not previously listed under terrorism laws because it was a government entity.
Australia revealed Iran orchestrated at least two anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. (Source: 1News)
Asked whether New Zealand would follow suit and move to designation the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, a spokesperson for the prime minister told 1News terrorist designations were “complex” and included a range of foreign policy, security, and legal considerations.
“It’s important this work is undertaken thoroughly,” they said.
New Zealand had previously declined to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, citing its status as a government organisation.
In a Cabinet paper proactively released in July last year, Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Government was using other tools to respond to Iran’s “repressive domestic policies and its aggressive foreign policy”, including sanctions, travel bans, and diplomatic pressure.
Peters said on Tuesday that New Zealand “unequivocally condemns Iran’s actions, including through proxies, in Gaza, the Red Sea and around the Middle East and the world”.
“State-sponsored attacks designed to sow discord are completely unacceptable.”
– additional reporting by AAP
