Iran's Ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, on Thursday rejected Australia's accusation that Tehran had directed antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne as "lies," as he arrived at Sydney Airport before an expulsion deadline.
Australia gave Sadeghi 72 hours on Tuesday to leave the country, the nation's first expulsion of an ambassador since World War Two. Three other Iranian embassy officials were given seven days to leave.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was briefed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation on Monday on evidence of payments to criminals that he said linked two attacks, on a synagogue and a kosher restaurant, to offshore individuals and Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"These are all baseless allegations and lies," Sadeghi told reporters from local television networks Nine and Seven at Sydney Airport on Thursday evening.
Earlier in Canberra, Sadeghi came outside his residence to say goodbye.
"I love Australian people, bye bye," he said, waving to television cameras.
Australia has said it would designate Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, joining the United States and Canada, which already blacklist the IRGC.
Israel claimed Netanyahu's intervention caused the Iranian expulsion
Australia on Wednesday dismissed suggestions by Israel that its interventions prompted Canberra to expel Iran's ambassador as it blamed Tehran for directing at least two antisemitic arson attacks in the country's biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.
"Complete nonsense," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told ABC Radio, when asked about Israel claiming credit for Australia's decision to order Tehran's ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, to leave the country.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "forthright intervention" and his criticisms against Australia's decision to recognize a Palestinian state may have triggered Australia's response.
"The relationship between this country and Australia was damaged, and so it's welcome that after Prime Minister Netanyahu's timely intervention that these actions have been taken by Australia's government," Mencer told reporters.