TRANSCRIPT
"Well, the Ambassador should be packing his bags to be heading back to Tehran. That's what should be happening. This is not the first occasion for this Ambassador."
That's opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham speaking to 2GB.
He's calling for Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi to be expelled from the country over comments he made, commending Hezbollah's former leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
On the 29th of September, Mr Sadeghi posted on X praising the Hezbollah leader.
"Following the martyrdom of Hajjah al-Islam Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the honourable Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Islamic Resistance Front and the Islamic World lost a great personality, an outstanding standard-bearer and an exceptional leader, but his path in the fight against the oppression and occupation of criminal Zionism will be continued.”
Hassan Nasrallah led Lebanese political and militant group Hezbollah for over three decades.
Over the weekend, he was assassinated in an Israeli air bombardment on Lebanon's capital Beirut.
Hezbollah is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it's not in Australia's interests to remove the Ambassador.
"The Government condemns any support for terrorist organisations like Hezbollah. We condemn the Ambassador's comments. Australia has maintained a diplomatic relationship with Iran since 1968 that has been continuous. Not because we agree with the regime but because it's in Australia's national interest."
Opposition leader Peter Dutton says that's not good enough.
"Do I think the Iranian Ambassador should be expelled from our country? Should be should he be persona non grata ((an unacceptable or unwelcome person))? Absolutely he should. 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."
Australia has never expelled an Ambassador before, although there are multiple instances of other diplomats including Chargé d'affaires being expelled from the country.
Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Justin Bassi, says the government has the power to do so.
"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 Australia.”
It's not the first time Ambassador Sadeghi has been criticized by the Australian government.
In August, he was called in for a meeting by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade over another Tweet, calling for, in his words, "wiping out the Zionist plague out of the holy lands of Palestine".
Mr Bassi says an expulsion would come with consequences.
"Expelling an ambassador does come with consequences. We have a very important mission in Tehran that not only operates for our national interests, but also helps our allies, such as the United States, who do not have missions in Tehran. So there are consequences that would need to be worked through."
And the expulsion could lead to Australian diplomats being expelled from Iran.
"Because he is a repeat offender, at some point, if the behaviour doesn't change, the government may come to decide that the division that he is causing requires that action, but it would need to be taken knowing that reciprocal expulsion would happen."
