EDITORIAL: No place for Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi’s anti-Semitism in Australia

We shouldn’t be surprised that Ahmad Sadeghi is a less-than-stellar bloke.

After all, the Iranian Ambassador to Australia is the representative of a regime that makes no secret of its wish to wipe out Western-style democracy and impose its totalitarian ideology on the entire world.

And yet it still jolts to hear his hateful, unhinged rhetoric describing the “wiping out of the Zionist plague” as “a desirable happening”, a “brilliant prospect” and “a heavenly and divine promise”.

These are not words that are acceptable in our nation. Even less so coming from a member of the diplomatic corps, who expects to interact with our nation’s leaders.

So far, the Australian response to Mr Sadeghi’s comments, made on social media platform X, has been restrained.

We’re told he received a dressing down from officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Anthony Albanese later expressed his revulsion.

“I make it clear there is no place for the sort of comments that were made online in social media by the Iranian ambassador. They’re abhorrent. They are hateful, they are anti-Semitic and they have no place,” he said.

Unfortunately, when your employer is a murderous totalitarian regime dedicated to the annihilation of democracy, earning a prime ministerial rebuke probably puts you in line for a hefty holiday bonus rather than a visit from HR.

The Opposition and others including former US diplomat Mark Wallace have called for much stronger action. They want Mr Sadeghi declared “persona non-grata” and booted from the country.

But Mr Albanese is clearly reluctant to pick a fight with Iran unless he absolutely has to.

“It’s also important that we have relations in Australia’s interests and we continue to do that whilst condemning the comments that have been made,” he said on Sky.

That may well be true. Blundering into a barney with Iran over some Twitter trolling may be unwise.

But it must be acknowledged that Mr Sadeghi’s comments are dangerous.

They came in a week that ASIO increased Australia’s terror threat level from “possible” to “probable”.

Reports of both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic behaviour are increasing. We don’t need people like Mr Sadeghi, sitting safe in their guarded embassies in Canberra, inflaming tensions and making us all less secure.

This isn’t Mr Sadeghi’s first infraction either. In December, he called for “humanity to put an end” to Israel.

That too earned him a mild castigation from the Government.

Clearly, it didn’t do anything to dissuade him from continuing.

Mr Sadeghi’s ambassadorial status grants him diplomatic immunity, meaning he cannot be prosecuted under Australia’s hate speech laws for the revolting things he says.

But it must be made crystal clear to him and others like him who would seek to sow discord in our society that Australia will not accept such racist hatred.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by WAN Editor Christopher Dore