Israel Names Iranian Commander Behind Attacks on Jewish Australians

Mossad has linked an IRGC officer to a number of anti-Semitic plots around the world.

A general view of the Iranian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP

Israel has publicly identified a senior Iranian military officer it claims directed a series of attacks on Jewish communities, including two incidents in Australia that led to the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador and the suspension of Australia’s embassy operations in Tehran.

Intelligence agency Mossad pointed to Sardar Ammar, a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as the person behind coordinated attacks in Australia, Greece, and Germany, the office of the Israeli prime minister said in a statement issued on Oct. 26.

According to Mossad, Ammar commands an estimated 11,000 operatives tasked with carrying out covert operations targeting Jewish and Israeli sites worldwide.

“Under Amar’s command, a significant mechanism was established to promote attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets both in Israel and abroad,” the statement said.

It alleged that the same network was responsible for “the attempted attacks exposed in Greece, Australia, and Germany in the past year alone,” adding that its failures had led to “a wave of arrests and its exposure.”

The revelation of Ammar’s involvement marks a blow to Iran’s efforts to conceal its international operations.

“The ongoing international campaign against Iranian terrorism denies Iran its room for plausible deniability, removes its immunity, and exacts a heavy price from it in the international political arena,” Mossad said.

Australia Expelled Iranian Envoy

The announcement follows Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision in August to expel Iran’s ambassador from Canberra and close Australia’s embassy in Tehran after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) confirmed Iran’s involvement in two anti-Semitic attacks.

Albanese told reporters that ASIO had gathered “credible intelligence” linking the IRGC to both incidents: the Oct. 20, 2024, arson attack at Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney and the Dec. 6, 2024, firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne.

“These actions were not random acts of hate,” Albanese said at the time, describing the evidence as “clear and deeply disturbing.”

ASIO: Iran ‘Lit the Matches and Fanned the Flames’

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess said the findings confirmed Iran’s direct role in orchestrating violence targeting Jewish Australians.

“Anti-Semitism has become one of ASIO’s most pressing priorities over the past 10 months,” Burgess said.

“We have unpicked the links between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

The IRGC had relied on a network of proxies to disguise its hand in the attacks.

“This is the sort of obfuscation and boundary blurring I warned about earlier this year,” Burgess said.

He stressed the gravity of the assessment process.

“Formal assessments such as this one are not done quickly or taken lightly. Our analysts carefully weigh every piece of intelligence. In this case, their conclusions are clear,” he said.

ASIO continues to investigate possible Iranian links to other incidents in Australia.

“Iran’s actions are utterly unacceptable,” Burgess said.

“They put lives at risk. They terrified the community, and they tore at our social fabric. Iran and its proxies literally and figuratively lit the matches and fanned the flames.”