Australia blacklists Iranian paramilitary force, citing attacks on Jewish sites

Canberra blacklists Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a state sponsor of terrorism, citing intelligence information linking Iran to attacks on Australian Jewish centers.

By World Israel News Staff

The Australian government has blacklisted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, labeling the paramilitary force a state sponsor of terrorism, following a string of attacks on Jewish targets linked to the IRGC.

On Thursday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that Canberra added the IRGC to the state sponsor of terrorism list after intelligence assessments concluded that the IRGC was responsible for orchestrating attacks on two Jewish centers in Australia last year.

“These cowardly attacks on Australian soil were designed to undermine and sow division in our multicultural society, by targeting Jewish Australians to inflict harm and stoke fear,” Canberra said.

In October 2024, shortly after the Hamas invasion of Israel, a kosher bakery café in Bondi, Sydney, was targeted in an arson attack.

Less than two months later, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was set ablaze in another arson attack.

An investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) concluded that both attacks were directed by the IRGC, which used a “complex web of proxies” in an effort to conceal its involvement.

“Listing of the IRGC is in direct response to the despicable actions of the Iranian government, and further empowers our police, security, and intelligence agencies to stamp out hatred and violence,” said Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Thursday.

Last August, Canberra announced that it held Tehran responsible for the attacks and expelled the Iranian ambassador.

The Australian government later amended its mechanism for designating state sponsors of terrorism, with the IRGC becoming the first entity blacklisted under the new framework.

“Iran’s attacks were unprecedented and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil, which is why we are listing the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism,” said Foreign Minister Wong. “It has no place in Australia.”