TRANSCRIPT
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation says it is confident that Iran carried out the attacks on the Addass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and the Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Iran's government has attempted to divide Australians by fuelling antisemitism.
"These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil. They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable, and the Australian Government is taking strong and decisive action in response."
In January of 2025, following a spate of antisemitic attacks, the Australian Federal Police issued a statement on their work addressing antisemitism.
In the statement, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw wrote that police were looking into the possibility of overseas actors paying local criminals to carry out antisemitic attacks.
Now seemingly confirmed, ASIO Director General Mike Burgess says the organisation does not make these assessments lightly.
"Our painstaking investigation uncovered and unpicked the links between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. The IRGC used a complex web of proxies to hide its involvement. This is the sort of obfuscation and boundary blurring I warned about earlier this year. It's important to understand that ASIO is both a collector of intelligence and assessor of intelligence. Formal assessments such as this one are not done quickly or taken lightly. Our analysts carefully weigh and weight every piece of intelligence. In this case, their conclusions are clear."
Alex Rychvin is the Co-Chief Executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
He says the community is deeply troubled by the foreign interference but grateful to authorities for working to keep the Jewish community safe.
"Two of these attacks were plotted and orchestrated by a foreign entity operating on Australian soil. The Australian Jewish community is foremost deeply grateful to the men and women of the AFP, ASIO, and state police for keeping us safe, for their single-minded commitment to pursuing these people, solving these crimes, and bringing the perpetrators to justice."
Iran's ambassador to Australia Ahmad Sadeghi, as well as three other officials, have been expelled from Australia and given seven days to leave.
In an exclusive interview with SBS Persian in early 2024, the Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi, denied foreign interference is being carried out in Australia by Iran.
"No! No! foreign interference from Iran here is not relevant. By no means, under no circumstances."
His expulsion from Australia marks the first time an ambassador has been expelled from the country since World War II.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says while Australia's ambassadors in Iran are also being removed, ties won't be completely severed.
"We will continue to maintain some diplomatic lines to advance the interests of Australians in relation to our embassy in Iran. Australia has had an embassy in Iran since 1968 and at that time and since that time, it has never been an endorsement of the regime. It has been a channel to advocate for our interests and for our people. However, the government has now taken the step to withdraw our Ambassador to Iran, and we have suspended the operations of our embassy in Iran for the safety of our officials and Australian Border Security."
In February, Iran was mentioned directly in the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation threat assessment.
Under Australia's criminal code it is an offence to provide support to a listed terrorist organisation.
The government hadn't previously listed the Revolutionary Guard under terrorism laws because it was a government entity.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says that will soon change.
"This extraordinary attack which occurred on our soil, means we have to adapt our response to the changing threat. That's why the government intends to introduce a new regime under the Criminal Code so that we can list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This sends the strongest possible signal that this conduct has reached a new and totally unacceptable low. The existing regime designed decades ago was not intended to deal with the threats we are now facing."
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a branch of Iran’s military, established after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Operating alongside the regular army, it answers directly to Iran's Supreme Leader and plays a central role in Iran’s defence, foreign operations, and regional influence.
In Australia, calls to list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation grew louder during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, which began in 2022 after the suspicious death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
Dr Jessica Genauer is a senior lecturer in International Relations at Flinders University.
She told SBS the listing could have consequences for anyone who has previously worked with the IRGC.
"So because the Revolutionary Guard Corp are very much embedded within the Iranian political and military landscape it now means that anyone who has served as part of the IRGC or is in any way associated with the IRGC would now potentially be banned from entering Australia for example so that could create all kinds of complications in areas where there are not necessarily nefarious activities taking place, so it's much more complicated when you want to designate an organisation as a terrorist entity and they're actually interconnected as a state apparatus."
In a moment of bipartisan support, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told Parliament that the Coalition fully backs the government's response.
"These acts of egregious foreign interference are brazen attempts to cleave apart our social cohesion. To turn neighbour against neighbour and Australian against Australian. I therefore want to make it abundantly clear on behalf of the Coalition that while we sit opposite from the government in this chamber we are entirely united behind the measures announced today to expel the Iranian ambassador and list Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization."
