Russia's Foreign Ministry on Thursday said that it had summoned the German Ambassador's representative to inform them that it had declared a staff member at the German Embassy persona non grata. The ministry linked the move to a decision by the German government to expel an employee of the Russian Embassy in Berlin last month on espionage allegations which Russia rejects. It called Thursday's move a 'symmetrical response' and said that Germany bore 'full responsibility for the new escalation in bilateral relations.'
Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (Asio) had credible intelligence to believe that the Iranian government was behind the attacks against the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne and Lewis's Continental Kitchen in Bondi in Sydney last year. He also announced that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps would now be listed as a terrorist group. Australia declared Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi persona non grata and ordered him and three other officials to leave the country within seven days.