The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, this week said the country’s domestic spy agency Asio had “credible evidence” that Iran directed at least two antisemitic attacks on Australian soil.
What do we know about the evidence? And the attacks? What does Iran say and could it be behind other antisemitic incidents?
What does the Australian government say?
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the government had a “a very, very high level of confidence” in Asio’s assessment that Iran had directed at least two antisemitic attacks in Australia. Albanese said several times this week that Asio and the federal police had been “able to trace the chain of command, if you like, right back to the IRGC” – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Asio chief, Mike Burgess, alleged that “some of the alleged perpetrators” had been “paid to do it”. Albanese hinted that authorities had evidence of Iran’s involvement, including financial documents and communications.
The government declined to say exactly what evidence it relied on. Albanese said modern investigations were difficult because “things are often done on the dark web, where you have encrypted messages, cryptocurrency transfers”.
The government hailed the investigation as a “rather extraordinary intelligence success by Asio and the Australian federal police”.
According to this week’s announcements, neither the Iranian embassy in Australia nor any Iranian diplomats posted to Australia were involved.
What won’t the Albanese government reveal?
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, declined to say on Wednesday what information supported Asio’s assessment, telling journalists: “I’m probably going to suggest I’m not going to answer this question.”
There is also the question of how that evidence was gathered – and by whom. Albanese has said “overwhelmingly, this was an Australian operation” – leaving open the likelihood there was international cooperation with at least one other country.
Israel has taken credit for some of Australia’s actions, with government spokesperson David Mencer claiming Benjamin Netanyahu had made a “forthright intervention” by criticising Albanese in recent weeks. Burke said Mencer’s claim was “nonsense”. Sky News reported that Israel had provided a “tipoff or lead” to Asio.
Questions remain about how the final assessment was reached and how long Iran’s involvement was suspected. As early as January, the Australian federal police (AFP) had said they were investigating whether “overseas actors or individuals” had paid locals in Australia to carry out some of the crimes.
The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, said at the time police believed hired proxies “may be behind some incidents”.
The prime minister said then: “It is important that people understand where some of these attacks are coming from, and it would appear, as the AFP commissioner said yesterday, that some of these are being perpetrated by people who don’t have a particular issue, aren’t motivated by an ideology, but are paid actors.”
A spate of incidents, including arson attacks on synagogues and a childcare centre, rocked the Jewish community in late 2024 and early 2025. New South Wales and federal police have previously said they believed some could ultimately be traced back to organised crime figures wanting to negotiate reduced sentences or divert police resources.
In March this year, the NSW police deputy commissioner, David Hudson, said those arrested to date over the incidents had not displayed any antisemitic ideology.
Burgess alleged on Tuesday that the attacks on Lewis’s Continental Kitchen in Bondi and the Melbourne synagogue had been ordered by the revolutionary guard corps, claiming it was working through a “layer cake of cut-outs” – paid intermediaries in Australia.
Burgess said Asio did not believe Iran was involved in every act of antisemitism in Australia but was investigating other incidents for possible Iranian government involvement.
What has Iran said in response?
Iran has denied the claims. The ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, was expelled and flew out of Sydney on Thursday night. He described Australia’s accusations as “baseless allegations”.
Sadeghi said the allegations were the result of a “misunderstanding between Australia and Iran”, suggesting there was a “conspiracy against our friendly relations with Australia”.
Australia has said the ambassador and Iranian diplomats at the embassy were not accused of wrongdoing.
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said attacking Australia’s Jewish community “makes zero sense” for his country. He called Albanese a “weak politician” and accused the PM of seeking to “appease” Netanyahu.
The foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei denied Iran was behind the attacks.
“The accusation that has been made is absolutely rejected,” he said. “Any inappropriate and unjustified action on a diplomatic level will have a reciprocal reaction.”
What do we know about the attack on Lewis’s Continental Kitchen?
The deli specialising in kosher food on Curlewis Street near Sydney’s Bondi beach was allegedly broken into on 20 October 2024 and set alight.
In January, a 41-year-old man, Wayne Ogden, was arrested and charged with starting the fire. He has also been charged with participating in criminal activity as part of a group. He is yet to enter any plea.
In March, Sayed Moosawi, 32, a former chapter president of the Nomad bikies, was arrested and subsequently pleaded not guilty to three charges in relation to the attack, as well as an earlier arson at the Curly Lewis brewery, also on Curlewis Street, on 17 October 2024.
NSW police allege Moosawi knowingly directed the activities of a criminal group that was “organised and ongoing”. He was also charged with being an accessory before the fact in relation to the two alleged arson attacks.
Moosawi successfully applied for bail earlier this month. In court documents released by the supreme court to Guardian Australia this week, police allege Moosawi gave instructions through the encrypted messaging app Signal, in which he used the handle “James Bond”.
Moosawi allegedly messaged Ogden on 30 September 2024: “I got something good lined up.”
Police allege on 15 October, Ogden and another man drove to Bondi in a vehicle with stolen number plates, arriving after 2am. The documents state police believe they parked and walked on foot to the Curly Lewis brewery.
The men allegedly concealed their faces with hoods and balaclavas and wore rubber gloves.
A member of the public saw two men and contacted triple zero, but the men allegedly fled the scene after being “spooked” , returning to the vehicle and driving away.
Police allege in the documents Moosawi then accused the pair of botching the attack. “Use both fail the test can’t do one small thing,” he allegedly wrote, adding they had made him “look stupid [in] front of my mate”, referring to an unknown person.
Police allege Ogden met Moosawi and the other man at a pub in Sydney’s west on 16 October.
The bail documents allege they were joined by two other men, Guy Finnegan, 31, and a 37-year-old man.
It is alleged that Moosawi told the men he was receiving $12,000 for organising the arson. Police further allege he offered Finnegan and the 37-year-old $4,000 to set fire to a premises on Curlewis Street, according to the court documents.
Finnegan and the 37-year-old man have pleaded guilty to damaging the Curly Lewis brewery and been convicted for setting the blaze there on 17 October. But police believe the intended target was always the kosher deli.
The bail documents state that Ogden was again in contact with Moosawi on 19 October. He allegedly then drove to Lewis’s Continental Kitchen in a stolen vehicle the next day.
Arriving after 2.30am, police allege he used a wrench to open the front door of the restaurant, before pouring a jerry-can filled with petrol around the kitchen area and setting fire to the fuel, before fleeing, leaving the jerry can and wrench behind.
Police allege he caused an estimated $1m in damage. No members of the public were harmed during the incident. Ogden is still before the courts and has not entered any plea.
There is no suggestion that any of the men are aware of the latest claims of Iran’s involvement, and there is no mention of Iran in any of the court documents. They remain before the courts with the presumption of innocence.
Moosawi’s defence lawyer, Zemarai Khatiz, said his client denied any involvement with the Iranian government or the IRGC and disputed that he had “contacted, communicated with or been directed by them in any way”.
“Police have been investigating this matter for nine months, and the brief of evidence that has been provided by them so far does not contain any evidence of any link between my client and the Iranian government or [the] Islamic revolutionary guard,” Khatiz told Guardian Australia.
Khatiz said neither he nor his client had been contacted by NSW police or Asio in relation to this week’s allegations.
What do we know about the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue?
The Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, built by Holocaust survivors who fled Europe, was subject to an arson attack in the early hours of 6 December 2024.
The arson was condemned by the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, as a hateful and violent “act of antisemitism”.
Two masked individuals were seen spreading a suspected accelerant at the synagogue before fire broke out in Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east. About 60 firefighters and 17 trucks were called to respond.
One worshipper was injured in the attack and the synagogue sustained significant damage. Allan pledged $100,000 to assist with rebuilding.
The acting premier, Jaclyn Symes, heralded a “breakthrough” in the case last month, after a man was charged with stealing “a communal crime car” used in the attack and allegedly blocking police from accessing apps on his phone. There is no suggestion the man is aware of the latest claims of Iran’s involvement.
Giovanni Laulu, 21, was arrested in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown and was charged with theft of a blue VW Golf in November, which police allege was later used by those involved in the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue, and other crimes.
A second man – Younes Ali Younes, 20 – was charged in relation to the arson attack, appearing in court on Wednesday, where he was remanded in custody.
Ali Younes and his co-accused, Laulu, are charged with arson, reckless conduct endangering life and car theft. Arson carries a potential sentence of 15 years in prison. The other two charges are each punishable by 10 years in prison. They are yet to enter any plea.
The crime was declared a terrorist act early in the investigation, but no terrorism charges, which can carry longer prison sentences, have been laid.
There is no suggestion that any of the men are aware of the latest claims of Iran’s involvement, and there is no mention of Iran in any of the court documents. They remain before the courts with the presumption of innocence.
