Senator Urges Australian Government to Reject Extradition Deal with Iran

Australian Senator Claire Chandler is urging the government to reject any deal with Tehran over the extradition of rejected Iranian asylum seekers.

‘‘The idea of Australia even discussing an extradition treaty with a regime which kills, rapes and arbitrarily detains political dissidents, artists and women and girls who don’t cover their hair is abhorrent and completely unacceptable,’’ Chandler told The Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday.

Chandler has been a leading advocate for Australia to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Iran has proposed an extradition agreement with Australia that would facilitate the return of rejected Iranian asylum seekers currently held in offshore detention.

Ahmad Sadeghi, Iran's ambassador to Australia, has repeatedly reiterated the proposal, asserting that there are “ways to address Australian concerns about Iranians being punished with the death penalty upon their return.”

Sadeghi himself has faced calls for expulsion from Australia by the head of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) due to antisemitic remarks he made.

“[Prime Minister] Albanese’s government should expel the ambassador. There shouldn't be an embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Australia at the moment,” AJA CEO Robert Gregory said in an interview with Iran International’s Alireza Mohebbi in May.

The call came after a series of tweets published by the Iranian official on X. Sadeghi stated in one of his tweets that humanity had no choice but to put "an end" to Israel, calling it "the most notorious killing machine in current world history."

The posts followed Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, in which thousands of gunmen killed around 1,200 Israelis and foreigners. It was the worst loss of life in a single day since the founding of Israel in 1948. A total of 240 people were taken hostage.