Australia announced on Tuesday that it had put an end to an Iranian spy operation on its soil during demonstrations of solidarity with the protest movement that erupted after the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in September. Claire O’Neill stated that the Iranian-Australian activist who participated in the demonstrations was the target of Iranian spying operations. “It is perfectly legitimate for anyone in Australia to criticize a foreign regime, as tens of thousands of people across the country have done in response to events in Iran,” she added in her speech at the Australian National University.
And she stressed that “we absolutely do not tolerate, under any circumstances, attempts by foreign regimes to interfere with peaceful demonstrations, encourage violence or silence opinions.” A young Iranian Kurdish woman, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, died days after being arrested by the vice police for violating the strict dress code in the Islamic Republic. Since then, a protest movement has begun in Iran.
O’Neill said that Tehran had been caught spying on the family of an Iranian-Australian protester, without elaborating. “We will not stand by and leave Australians or even visitors to our country under surveillance or harassment by foreign governments on our soil,” she added.
These statements are especially significant given that the Australian government often refrains from accusing countries of espionage. Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ali Khamenei in October accused the US and Israel of instigating the protests.
Iranian authorities have confirmed that hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed in protests that have eased in intensity in recent weeks. Thousands of Iranians were arrested, including famous artists, lawyers and journalists.
