Iranian ambassador says Israeli ‘terrorist attack’ done by ‘lawless Zionists’

The Iranian ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, made the comment despite receiving a formal warning to respect Australian law and to stay out of domestic affairs.

The Iranian ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, has labelled Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran a “terrorist attack” coming from the “lawless Zionist enemy”, despite receiving a formal warning from the government to respect Australian law and to stay out of domestic affairs.

Scores of Israeli jets completed three waves of strikes before dawn on Saturday against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, Israel’s military said.

It was retaliation for Iran’s October 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles, and Israel warned its heavily armed enemy not to hit back after the latest strike.

Tehran’s top Iranian diplomat in Australia was hauled into the Department of Home Affairs and Trade less than a month ago for remembering Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah as a “remarkable leader”, calling him a “blessed martyr” who had a “dignified path” to heaven.

Despite his recent reprimand, Mr Sadeghi has come under renewed scrutiny after he remembered four army personnel killed by Israeli strikes at the weekend as “honoured martyrs” while denouncing Zionists as “lawless”.

“The lawless Zionist enemy launched a terrorist attack on the sacred territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a clear violation of national sovereignty and international law,” Mr Sadeghi wrote on X.

“In defending Iran’s security, four brave officers and soldiers of the Iranian army were martyred while countering the aggressor’s attacks. These honoured martyrs are eternally remembered by the Iranian people. May their memory be cherished, and their path followed.”

The Australian has approached the embassy of Iran in Canberra and the DFAT for comment.

Mr Sadeghi. Picture: Twitter

The opposition’s foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham said the envoy has repeatedly showed disregard for Australian values. “Iran’s ambassador to Australia has repeatedly shown a disregard for the values and laws of Australia, along with the expectations we have of guests to our country,” he told The Australian.

“Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, especially the heinous Hamas attacks of October 7 last year, is the root cause of the current conflict. Iran could help to bring the conflict to an end if it ceased attacks on Israel itself, and brought its proxy terror groups to heel too.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said it was “perplexing” for the government to retain Mr Sadeghi as an envoy after repeated concerning statements.

“It is perplexing that our government retains an envoy of this regime in Canberra knowing full well its mission is to destabilise and destroy,” Mr Ryvchin told The Australian.

“The Iranian regime speaks of defending its security from aggression yet the only thing the regime defends is its own cartel that terrorises its own people, brutalises brave dissenters, LGBT people and ethnic minorities and seeks to export its despotism throughout the region.

“(The government) must vex the regime that it is more isolated in the Middle East than the Jewish state, but this is because the forward-thinking, peace-seeking states have understood that Israel is the present and the future while the regime in Iran will soon go the way of other petty tyrants and the great people of Iran will be free.”

At the time of the strike on Iran, Anthony Albanese said Israel had the right to retaliate after copping a barrage of ballistic missiles.

“What I do is join with the US secretary of state and (British) Prime Minister [Keir] Starmer to work towards a de-escalation in the Middle East,” the Prime Minister said.

“I think that is what everyone wants to see and certainly at CHOGM (the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) that was the common view.”

Iran’s military said the Israeli warplanes used “very light warheads” to target border radar systems in the provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan and around Tehran.

“Enemy planes were prevented from entering the country’s airspace … and the attack caused limited damage,” Iran’s military joint staff said in a statement.