Former Iranian diplomat was granted asylum in Australia after defecting

## Summary
Mohammad Pournajaf was Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP View image in fullscreen Mohammad Pournajaf was Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Former Iranian diplomat was granted asylum in Australia after defecting Mohammad Pournajaf, Tehran’s former charge d’affaires in Canberra, sought protection in 2023, government source confirms Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One of Iran’s former top diplomats in Australia has defected from the theocratic regime, with the revelations only coming to light this week after six members of the Iranian women’s football squad were granted protection . London-based news outlet Iran International, which is not tied to the Islamic Republic’s regime, reported on Friday that Mohammad Pournajaf, Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023, had applied for asylum.

## Article Content
Mohammad Pournajaf was Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
View image in fullscreen
Mohammad Pournajaf was Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Former Iranian diplomat was granted asylum in Australia after defecting
Mohammad Pournajaf, Tehran’s former charge d’affaires in Canberra, sought protection in 2023, government source confirms
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our
breaking news email
,
free app
or
daily news podcast
One of Iran’s former top diplomats in Australia has defected from the theocratic regime, with the revelations only coming to light this week after six members of the Iranian women’s football squad
were granted protection
.
London-based news outlet Iran International, which is not tied to the Islamic Republic’s regime,
reported on Friday
that Mohammad Pournajaf, Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023, had applied for asylum. Another Iranian diplomat had applied for asylum in Denmark, the outlet reported.
Guardian Australia has confirmed with a government source that Pournajaf had been in Australia from 2018 but had not sought protection until 2023. He has since been granted asylum.
How a bid for freedom by Iran’s women footballers unfolded in Australia
Read more
Pournajaf remained the embassy’s charge d’affaires until at least early 2023, having hosted the 44th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution, where he
reportedly praised
the regime’s achievements.
Pournajaf had
previously served
as Iran’s ambassador to Zimbabwe and as
a representative
to the United Nations.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email
The former diplomat’s defection is not related to the current conflict, the government source said.
Iran’s most recent former ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, was
expelled along other diplomats and embassy staff in August last year
after the Albanese government accused Tehran of being behind two antisemitic arson attacks.
Sadeghi has denied allegations his government was behind two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia, describing the accusations as “baseless”. There was no accusation current Iranian diplomats or embassy staff were involved.
Asio said it had “credible intelligence” that Iran’s paramilitary wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was ultimately behind two attacks in 2024 – one on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Bondi and another on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. There were no injuries in either attack.
Asio said the IRGC had planned and funded the attacks through a series of intermediaries, including organised crime figures, but said it was “likely” Iran was behind more antisemitic attacks on Australian soil.
A total of seven members of the Iranian women’s football quad were
granted humanitarian visas
in Australia but one changed her mind, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke confirmed on Thursday.
The group – who were given temporary humanitarian visas offering a pathway to permanent residency – have already been given an offer to train with A-League Women club Brisbane Roar.
The remainder of the travelling squad arrived in Malaysia early Wednesday morning after flying out from Sydney, Agence France-Presse photos taken at Kuala Lumpur international airport showed.
Explore more on these topics
Australia news
Iran
Canberra
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Australian foreign policy
news
Share
Reuse this content

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- Explore more on these topics Australia news Iran Canberra Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Australian foreign policy news Share Reuse this content

### Expert Commentary
This article covers australia, iran, pournajaf topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 524.