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“That’s the main reason we did that hunger strike.”
“One of the most important lessons for me here is that when ordinary people, especially those in marginalised communities, raise their voices, they must be listened to,” Toupchi says. Credit: Supplied
Almost three years after the strike, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the government had expelled the ambassador and would list the IRGC as a terror organisation after declaring that Iran directed two antisemitic attacks in Australia.
“When we did that [strike], and didn’t see any real actions from the government back in those days. I felt ignored.
But now these days, I feel real relief and validation.
“I was just a little bit annoyed because we’ve been asking for these actions since 2022. If our voices had been heard back in 2022, I believe those horrific attacks wouldn’t have happened at all.”
Source: SBS News
‘Iran is not a friend’
“I’m not the only Australian citizen who’s been targeted by the IRGC, and you know, they wouldn’t even sanction the judge who sentenced me to prison, or any other official whose name I provided linked to the IRGC either.”
“I hope that it did contribute to a greater understanding among the diplomatic class that Iran is not a friend, and then they need to take the threat of Iran more seriously.”
‘It was the voice of the community’
“There were several other groups and many community members and individuals who raised their voices for this.”
As the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ uprising was developing in Iran, Iranian Australians protested in Australia, asking for the IRGC to be listed as a terrorist organisation, including this protest in February 2023. Source: SBS News
A 2023 Senate inquiry recommended 12 actions against the Iranian regime, including listing the IRGC, but the government said it couldn’t list a ‘nation-state’ group.
Why Australia held onto diplomatic ties with Iran
“Whereas parts of the government that were interested in national security and were more interested in safeguarding Australians here at home than they were in the diplomatic relationship, were perhaps more inclined to list [the IRGC].
I think it became an internal issue within the government, which factions were in favour and which were against, and who would win out in the end.
Dara Conduit, a lecturer in political science at the University of Melbourne, says: “The fact that it has been proven — there is obviously evidence … that directly links the IRGC to the attacks — means that the Australian government had enough evidence to take this step.”
“It’s something that the government has been asked about over and over again in recent years, and I think a lot of that is because of the way that the Iranian diaspora has made sure that it remains part of the political agenda.”
‘Horror situation’ for those in Iran
“They have far more powers now to go after anyone who’s acting on behalf of the IRGC inside Australia and to arrest them and charge them with supporting a terror organisation,” she says.
