Iranian agents lived in Australia before directing attacks on Sydney and Melbourne, spy chief says
Burgess said the attacks were directed through Iranian networks and marked a rise in state-sponsored terrorism and antisemitic violence, including a Bondi firebombing.
- On Wednesday, ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess revealed that Iran-backed operatives directed 2024 firebombings at a Sydney restaurant and a Melbourne synagogue, marking major antisemitic attacks.
- The IRGC Quds Force recruited these agents through Iraqi-based militia networks, valuing their criminal connections to conduct covert operations across multiple continents.
- Burgess characterized the security environment as marked by "concurrent, cascading, and compounding threats," warning that risks include potential future arson, vandalism, or assassinations on Australian soil.
- Foreign intelligence services are aggressively targeting the AUKUS submarine pact for secrets, while ASIO revealed an increasing number of Australians face "coerced repatriation" by hostile regimes.
- Tracking a shadowy Iran-linked group active in Europe, Burgess fears these networks could expand to Australia to conduct further attacks against Jewish sites and infrastructure.
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29 Articles
Lessons start with how Iran organized Melbourne synagogue attack
A former Australian resident living in Iraq directed the attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in December 2024, Mike Burgess, the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, has revealed. Burgess said Iran, which was behind the attack, recruited the man through a “complex web of Iraqi-based militia groups”. “Valuing his high wealth and criminal […] The post Lessons start with how Iran organized Melbourne synagogue attack a…
Australia spy chief warns of Iran terror threat
Giving an annual threat assessment, Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), said he was also concerned that an Iranian group active in Europe could conduct further attacks or an assassination in Australia.
Associated Press News
Iranian agents lived in Australia before directing attacks on Sydney and Melbourne, spy chief says
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard used two agents who once lived in Australia to direct arson attacks against Jewish targets in Sydney and Melbourne, said Mike Burgess, director general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization.
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