Australia's spy chief revealed that an Iranian intelligence officer orchestrated a firebombing at a Sydney kosher eatery and directed an attack on a Melbourne synagogue. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess stated that Iran views Australia as a target for covertly directed violence, presenting a systemic challenge to national security.
The revelations highlight Iran's alleged use of agents with Australian ties to conduct violent attacks on domestic soil, underscoring a significant degradation of Australia's security environment and posing a direct challenge to national security from foreign state actors.
Australia's domestic spy chief, Mike Burgess, revealed that an Iranian intelligence officer orchestrated a firebombing at a Sydney kosher eatery and directed an attack on a Melbourne synagogue. Burgess, Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), stated on Wednesday that Iran continues to view Australia as a legitimate target for covertly directed acts of violence, presenting a systemic challenge to national security.
Burgess indicated that the country's terrorism threat level of 'probable' does not fully capture the concurrent, cascading, and compounding threats Australia faces. He noted that while specific attacks are not anticipated, the security environment is degrading, making politically motivated violence more likely than the current threat level suggests. ASIO has foiled 31 major terror plots since 2014 and resolved over a dozen terror-related cases, including the Bondi Beach mass shooting in December which killed 15 people.
An Australian citizen based in Iran, acting as a senior agent for the Revolutionary Guard, directed the Sydney firebombing. A former Australian resident living in Iraq, recruited by the Guard, directed the Melbourne attack. Burgess described the investigations into these attacks as among the most difficult and detailed in ASIO's recent history. Australia had previously accused Iran of directing antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne in August 2025, leading to the expulsion of Iran's ambassador.