Australia’s intelligence agency says it traced money behind last year’s arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, though the young men accused of carrying it out may not have known who was directing them.
"They're just using cut-outs, including people who are criminals and members of organized crime gangs to do their bidding or direct their bidding," Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) Mike Burgess told reporters on Tuesday.
Younes Ali Younes, 20, appeared in Melbourne’s Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with stealing a car and setting fire to the Adass Israel synagogue on December 6.
He did not seek bail or enter a plea. Another man, Giovanni Laulu, 21, was charged last month on the same counts.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that investigators uncovered a “supply chain” of payments leading from local criminals to Tehran.
“Security forces have done extraordinary work to trace the source of the funding of these criminal elements who’ve been used as tools of the Iranian regime,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
A tip-off from Israeli intelligence assisted ASIO during the inquiry, Sky News reported on Wednesday, with confidential sources confirming Israel provided a lead in relation to one of the firebombings.
Most of the work, however — including mapping networks of suspects and breaking through encrypted messaging — was conducted by ASIO investigators.
The attack was captured on CCTV showing three hooded figures unloading jerry cans of fuel from a stolen car before igniting the synagogue’s entrance and fleeing. Police said lives were endangered as people were inside at the time, though no injuries occurred.
Albanese on Tuesday expelled Iran’s ambassador after receiving a briefing from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, joining other Western governments accusing Tehran of covert operations abroad.
Security agencies in Britain and Sweden have previously warned of Iran’s use of criminal proxies, while London has reported foiling 20 Iran-linked plots since 2022.
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the accusations.
Victoria state’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team described the arson as politically motivated and involving offshore direction, while Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said local perpetrators likely had no knowledge of who ultimately ordered the attack.
