Iran’s ambassador to Australia, Abdolhossein Vahaji, says Australian jihadis in Iraq are putting themselves in harm’s way, and will get no special treatment from Tehran’s intelligence services or from Shia militias.



At the weekend Australia announced a new intelligence-sharing deal with Iran to gain information on Australians fighting with Islamic State in Iraq. This information could assist prosecutions of returning foreign fighters.

The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has declined to say whether the new agreement would increase the risk of harm for Australian citizens participating in the conflict.

Labor has warned the government to tread carefully, and avoid “naivety” in dealing with Tehran.

The Iranian ambassador told the ABC on Tuesday that Australians in Iraq would get what they deserved in the event they came across Iranian militias.

“Whatever they get they deserve to get it, because no matter where they are, what is their nationality, it is not important,” Vahaji said. “The point is this kind of phenomenon is threatening the security of the world and especially the region, and all the governments in the world they understand that. That’s why they provide that kind of coalition.”

The ambassador declined to say whether Bishop had sought any specific guarantees of protection for Australian citizens when the agreement was reached.

Vahaji said the issue was complex, but in general terms, Australians on the ground deserved nothing from Iran.

“Why should we give them confidence for their safety? We can cooperate in order to bring back the peace to the region. Any people, soldiers, any troop, from anywhere of the world is combating over there. They are after bringing back the peace in the region and we are doing the same,” he said.

The ambassador was also asked about Iran’s poor human rights record – one of the factors prompting Iranian citizens to seek protection in countries such as Australia.

Vahaji retorted that Australia was in no position to criticise countries about human rights when eminent bodies had criticised its treatment of asylum seekers in offshore immigration detention.

“You are saying that you believe that you are treating the people in detention camps accordingly? This is the report that you are giving,” Vahaji told the ABC.“The report that you have been sending to the parliament is vice versa. The kind of treatment that asylum-seekers are being received nowadays, it is to the complaint of your country, of your Australian report.”

On 7.30 on Monday night, Bishop was asked why Australia would enter an intelligence-sharing agreement with a country that was a well-known state sponsor of terrorism, a funder of Hezbollah and which has been widely criticised for human rights abuses, including torture.

Bishop said Australian intelligence agencies “analyse information from whatever source it comes. That’s what they do, that’s their job.”

“It’s in our interests to gain as much information as we can on those Australians who are seeking to take part in terrorist activities in Iraq and Syria and beyond,” she said.

Asked why Australia would trust Iran, Bishop said: “Well that’s what our intelligence agencies do; they gather information from all sources and it’s their job to look at the accuracy of it, to verify it, to determine what’s credible and what’s not.”