Coalition calls on government to expel Iran’s ambassador

Peter Dutton is urging strong action against Iran after the country’s envoy to Australia sparked yet another controversy on social media.

Peter Dutton is calling on the Albanese government to expel the Iranian ambassador to Australia after the diplomat sparked another controversy on social media.

Iran’s envoy, Ahmad Sadeghi, praised slain Lebanese terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah as a “remarkable leader” and a “prominent standard bearer” in a social media post.

Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah in Lebanon for decades, was killed in an Israeli strike last week.

The Opposition Leader said on Friday the ambassador’s comments were “utterly at odds with what is in our country’s best interests”.

Iran’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, praised slain Lebanese terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah. Picture: Twitter

“Do I think the Iranian ambassador should be expelled from our country? Should he be persona non grata? Absolutely, he should,” Mr Dutton told reporters.

“It’s not his first time, and he’s been warned by the government before.

“The Prime Minister has to start showing some strength of leadership and some character here and standing up for our values and what’s right.”

Mr Sadeghi sparked outrage in August when he posted that Israel was a “genocidal regime” and said he looked forward to the “Zionist plague” getting wiped out of the “holy lands of Palestine”.

The government has condemned both of his comments but so far resisted the Coalition’s calls to expel the ambassador, insisting it is better to have diplomatic channels to leverage Australia’s strategic interests.

Iran backs both Hezbollah and Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that administers Gaza.

The Islamic fundamentalist Iranian regime launched a barrage of nearly 200 missiles at Israel earlier this week in response to Israeli military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon that has all-but decapitated the group’s upper echelon.

Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli defences, with the assistance of Western allies.

Australia has joined the US and other allies in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, with US President Joe Biden saying on Thursday (local time) that his administration was in “discussions” with Israel on a response against Iran.

Mr Biden said they were talking through striking Iranian oil reserves as an option but did not endorse that course of action.

An Albanese government spokesperson told NewsWire that “Australia has been clear in its condemnation of Iran’s missile attack on Israel, and this has also been conveyed directly to the Iranian Ambassador in Canberra”.

Originally published as Coalition calls on government to expel Iran’s ambassador