Iran Aligns with Netanyahu in Labeling Australia’s Albanese ‘Weak’

In an unusual turn of events, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent description of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a “weak politician,” despite prefacing that he does not normally side with “wanted war criminals.”

The rare alignment came just days after Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador and three diplomats, following allegations by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) orchestrated antisemitic hate crimes including arson and vandalism targeting Jewish institutions in Melbourne and Sydney.

Araghchi angrily rejected the accusations, claiming that Iran actively protects its Jewish population. “Accusing Iran of attacking such sites in Australia while we do our utmost to protect them in our own country makes zero sense,” he wrote, referencing the ancient Jewish community still living in the Islamic Republic.

However, multiple Iranian Jews have recently been arrested on charges of collaboration with Israel, raising serious concerns about the regime’s treatment of its Jewish minority.

Netanyahu’s original criticism of Albanese stemmed from Australia’s decision to block MK Simcha Rothman a Religious Zionist Party lawmaker from entering the country just hours before a scheduled solidarity visit with Australia’s Jewish community. The cancellation occurred amid a rise in antisemitic incidents, leading Netanyahu to call Albanese a politician who “betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”

Araghchi’s agreement with Netanyahu on Albanese’s weakness appears to be rooted in Australia’s decisive diplomatic action against Iran, rather than solidarity with Jewish communities. Nonetheless, the episode has laid bare a strange convergence between two sworn enemies Israel and Iran in their disdain for the current Australian government.

Meanwhile, Jewish Australians are left feeling increasingly vulnerable. Barring Israeli representatives, even symbolic ones, during a time of heightened antisemitic violence sends a troubling message. When terror regimes like Iran and democratic allies like Australia are both at odds with Israel albeit for very different reasons the stakes for Jewish safety and international alignment grow ever more complex.

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