in brief
- Twenty-two nations have issued a statement condemning "state threats relating to Iranian security services".
- The nations, which include Australia, also denounced recent attacks across Europe claimed by an Iran-linked group.
Twenty-two countries — including Australia, the United States, and several European nations — jointly warned Iran on Thursday to stop attacking people "on our soil".
Iran's security services were condemned for their "deplorable" and "long-standing" use of international and local criminal gangs for plots in Australia, Europe, and North America.
"Attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, intimidate, or otherwise attack people on our soil, undermine national sovereignty and international norms. These actions must stop immediately," the countries said in a joint statement.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence services and its foreign operations branch, the Quds Force, had engaged in "lethal plotting and malign actions" against Iranian dissidents, journalists and Jewish and Israeli communities and interests, they said.
"We stand united in our determination to protect our countries and our people against these threats. The Islamic Republic of Iran must halt these actions now."
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The Iranian ambassador to Australia was expelled in August last year after Iran was accused of directing at least two antisemitic attacks: an arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne and the torching of a kosher cafe in Sydney.
Australia also withdrew its ambassador to Iran and suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran.
In November, Australia designated the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism, describing its alleged attacks in Australia as "unprecedented and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil".
Iran's foreign ministry said at the time that Australia's decision was an "insulting and unjustified act" that violated international rules and norms.
The countries also accused Iran of being behind a campaign of attacks across Europe targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and US journalists that were claimed by the Iran-linked group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI).
The group, whose name means The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, has claimed responsibility for attacks targeting Jewish communities in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
HAYI reportedly said it was responsible for the stabbing of two Jewish men and a series of arson attacks on synagogues and community sites in north London over recent months.
The statement was issued by Albania, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and the United States.
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