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AAP
AAP
Politics
Dominic Giannini

Increase in diplomats during Iranian interference plot

The Iranian embassy has denied any wrongdoing after accusations of a foreign interference plot. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Three extra Iranian citizens had diplomatic visas around the time a foreign interference plot was uncovered by Australia's national security agencies.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil revealed a plot by Iran surveilling Iranian-Australians and their families domestically late last year had been foiled.

Australian authorities have refused to confirm how many diplomatic visas were cancelled or who the people involved were.

It has now been revealed there were 31 Iranian citizens on a diplomatic visa at the start of November, before increasing by three to 34 as of December 23.

But by the end of February, two weeks after the plot was made public, it was back to 31.

The Iranian embassy has denied any wrongdoing and accused the Australian government of not providing any evidence to back up the allegations.

Asked whether any people from the Iranian embassy or affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were part of the plot, the government said it didn't comment on operational matters or on individuals due to privacy.

The same response was given when asked about if there were any known members of affiliates of the IRGC in Australia.

Liberal senator Claire Chandler, who chaired an inquiry into human rights in Iran, said she had been made aware of numerous Iranian-Australian citizens who had been threatened, intimidated or surveilled by the regime.

"There is a huge amount of fear and concern in the diaspora community and this is only exacerbated by a refusal by the government to answer reasonable questions," she told AAP.

"The extent of IRGC presence in Australia and whether there was any diplomatic involvement in state-directed foreign interference is exactly the type of information the public is entitled to know about, because it affects Australian residents, our democracy and our policy settings."

Senator Chandler, who acts as the opposition's assistant foreign affairs spokeswoman, said she wasn't asking to access operational details, just basic detail about an organisation and state-actor identified as an instigator of terrorism and foreign interference globally.

"We were pleased to hear the minister commit to bringing the perpetrators of foreign interference into the light and enabling a frank public conversation," she said

"But those statements are contradicted by the government shutting down every single question about who was involved in a serious incident specifically announced in the media by the minister."

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