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Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for Iran’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, to be removed from his position after praising Hezbollah’s leader,
In a post on social media platform X on 29 September, Sadeghi said the leader of the Lebanese militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, was a “great personality, an outstanding standard-bearer and an exceptional leader”.
He also said his “path in the fight against the oppression and occupation of criminal Zionism will be continued”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also condemned the ambassador’s comments.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air attack on Lebanon’s capital Beirut on 27 September.
He had , serving as a political and spiritual leader who guided Hezbollah to prominence in Lebanon.
Among his supporters, the Shia leader was lauded for standing up to Israel and defying the United States. To his enemies, he was the head of a militant group and a proxy for Iran in its tussle for influence in the Middle East.
Hezbollah has been considered a terrorist organisation by the Australian government since 2021.
Dutton told reporters on Friday that the ambassador’s comments were “utterly at odds with what is in our country’s best interests”.
“Do I think the Iranian ambassador should be expelled from our country? Should he be persona non grata? Absolutely he should,” he said.
Dutton also said it was not the ambassador’s first time attracting controversy. He said Albanese needed to “start showing some strength of leadership and some character here and standing up for our values”.
Speaking to 2GB, Opposition spokesperson for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, said the ambassador should be “packing his bags” and leaving for Tehran.
“It is hate speech, pure and simple. It is vile.
“And he may be here with certain diplomatic privileges, but ultimately he’s here as a guest of the Australian government and that invitation should be withdrawn,” he said.
Justin Bassi, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told SBS News the government has the power to remove Sadeghi.
“If the Australian government feels that the diplomat is acting in a way not in our national interest, then the government can, of course, decide who is given the diplomatic coverage to come into and stay into, into Australia.”
‘We condemn the ambassador’s comments’
Speaking on Friday, Albanese said the government “condemns any support for terrorist organisations like Hezbollah”.
“We condemn the ambassador’s comments,” he said.
Albanese said Australia’s relationship with Iran has continued “not because we agree with the regime but because it’s in Australia’s national interest”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the ambassador’s comments on Friday. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Another controversy
In August, Australian political figures condemned another post by Sadeghi on X, after he referred to Israel as the “Zionist plague” and called for its removal from “the holy lands of Palestine” by 2027.
Referring to the August post, vice president of the Australian Iranian Community Alliance (AICA) Suren Edgar Sadeghi’s comments were “definitely antisemitic”.
“This [post] does not represent the whole community, but other communities may not know this. They may think the ambassador represents the whole country,” he said at the time.
The AICA requested the removal of the Iranian ambassador from Australia in a statement.
“The ambassador’s egregious comments are not only unacceptable but also a direct threat to the safety and harmony of our multicultural society,” it said.
“Allowing such an individual to remain in Australia would be a grave mistake and disservice to the values of peace and respect that we uphold.”
At the time, Albanese said Sadeghi had been “called in” to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and described his statement as “abhorrent, hateful and antisemitic”.
Referring to this controversy on Friday, Birmingham told 2GB the “talking to” he received from Albanese on this occasion was “woefully ineffective”.
SBS News has contacted AICA for comment.
With additional reporting from Reuters.