ASIO ties Iranian agents to Sydney, Melbourne bombings

The head of Australia’s domestic intelligence agency has revealed that two individuals living overseas orchestrated antisemitic firebombings in Sydney and Melbourne, as part of a broader warning about a deteriorating security environment marked by foreign interference, espionage, and evolving terrorist threats.

In his annual threat assessment delivered on Wednesday, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess detailed direct links between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the two attacks. He identified an Australian citizen based in Iran as a senior agent of the IRGC’s Quds Force, who orchestrated the firebombing of the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi in October 2024. Burgess stated that intelligence on this individual is extensive, including knowledge of his superior and department within the Iranian regime.

A second individual, a former Australian resident living in Iraq, was identified as having directed the December 2024 attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne. Burgess said Iran recruited this person through Iraqi militia groups, valuing his wealth and criminal connections. After ASIO publicly attributed the attacks to Iran and law enforcement applied...