A former Australian resident living in Iraq directed the attack on Melbourne Adass Israel Synagogue in December 2024, the head of ASIO Mike Burgess 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 connections, the IRGC (The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) protected him and supported his illegal enterprises.

"That changed dramatically after ASIO publicly named Iran’s involvement in the arsons.

"This person’s Iranian backers lost their enthusiasm, and after further pressure from Australian and local law enforcement, they threw him in prison.”

Burgess gave the details while delivering his Annual Threat Assessment speech on Wednesday evening. He also said an Iran-based Australian citizen orchestrated the firebombing of the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi in October 2024, which was the “the first major attack in the summer of antisemitism”.

“This person is a senior agent of the IRGC Qods Force, running its networks around the world.

"We know more about him than he realises, including the name of his superior in Iran and the department he works for. Department eleven-thousand, a covert unit within the IRGC Qods Force, is responsible for coordinating operations in the West.”

Burgess said he couldn’t name the individuals because of the need to protect continuing investigations and related prosecutions.

“But I want them to understand this: we know who you are, we know what you’ve done and we know who you work for.”

On antisemitism generally, Burgess said it was often seen through a narrow lens. But it could come from “diverse sources simultaneously, challenging traditional definitions, assumptions, and approaches”.

Sadly, and illogically, hatred of Jews is one thing virtually all the violent extremist cohorts have in common. Neo-Nazis are antisemitic. Islamic extremism is antisemitic. Issue-motivated extremists can be antisemitic, particularly........

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