Israeli intelligence said the planning of the attack by Naveed Akram and another gunman bore the hallmarks of Iranian involvement. Photo / Getty Images
The Sydney terror attack may have been carried out by an Iranian-backed foreign terror cell, Israeli authorities believe.
Officials cited Iran as a primary suspect, and said possible links to groups including Hezbollah, Hamas and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba were also being investigated, according to Israeli media reports.
Australian officials have not publicly confirmed any foreign involvement in the atrocity.
At least 15 people were killed in the country’s worst mass shooting in decades, which targeted a Jewish gathering to celebrate Hanukkah, the festival of lights.
Intelligence sources said the attack on the Bondi Beach celebration appeared to be sophisticated and well-planned, and carried the hallmarks of Unit 910, Hezbollah’s feared external operations arm.
An Iranian link to the attack would follow a pattern of terror plots and attacks in Australia in recent years.
Israel’s Mossad intelligence revealed in October that it had thwarted dozens of terror attacks around the world on Jewish and Israeli targets since October 7, 2023, in countries including Greece, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Australia.
In August, Australia ordered Iran’s ambassador to leave the country after alleging Tehran had directed attacks against Jewish targets in Sydney and Melbourne, an arson attack on a cafe in Sydney in October 2024, and another on a synagogue in Melbourne in December.
Mike Burgess, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), said at the time that his teams had uncovered links “between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC”.
Intelligence services also said they had found evidence Iran was likely to be behind other anti-Semitic incidents in Australia, including attacks on Jewish schools, homes, vehicles and synagogues since the October 7 attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert from the Institute of National Security Studies in Israel, said it was “too early to jump to conclusions” but added: “Given the short history of Iranian activity and 910 in Australia, they are definitely suspects and high on the priority list”.
“Australia has long been known to be a hub for Hezbollah and Iran’s sleeping cells, so it could even be a joint operation between Hezbollah and Quds Force,” Ronen Solomon, an Israeli intelligence expert on Hezbollah, told The Telegraph.
“But this will mean it’s going to be very hard to pin this incident on them as Iran will want to cover this up as an anti-Semitic incident. If the investigation incriminates Iran or Hezbollah, Israel will respond, which will also make things much more complicated.”
Solomon said the attackers managed to bypass local security, gathering detailed information on the target and thoroughly planning the way to attack.
Before the attack this morning, the Australian Government’s national security website listed the threat from Hezbollah on Australian soil as “probable”, writing that “it is possible that Australian interests could be harmed by future attacks”.
In November 2023, just weeks after the outbreak of the Gaza war, Mossad released a statement saying that they had thwarted a Hezbollah plot “directed and financed by the Iranian regime” targeting Israeli and Jewish targets in Brazil.
“Given the backdrop of the war in Gaza against the Hamas terrorist organisation, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime are continuing to operate around the world in order to attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets,” the statement warned at the time.
Citrinowicz, who formerly headed the Iran branch of Israeli defence intelligence, added: “It can also be they’re hiring proxies, criminals or those in the local community, which is the modus operandi of Iran. But Iran’s involvement targeting Jewish facilities in Sydney and Melbourne really points that way.
“We cannot rule out the Sunnis, however. We know that Al-Qaeda and IS have also been active in Australia. This isn’t going to be an easy investigation if it’s Iran or Hezbollah, as they will be covering their tracks very well.”
He said the attack on Sunday looked sophisticated and well-planned, as opposed to an opportunistic killing. “It’s not something you do ‘now to now’ and it seems that they were very capable of using their weapons. It looks very organised”.
An Israeli intelligence source, who asked not to be named, told The Telegraph that officials are keeping an open mind, but the operation appears to have the hallmarks of a state-sponsored event.
“It was extremely well organised by a coordinated group, and from way ahead of time, and the amount of ammunition and long-range weapons all point to this,” the source said.
Mossad said in October that it had identified senior IRGC-Quds Force commander General Ammar as the mastermind behind a transnational network responsible for anti-Semitic attacks in several Western countries, including Australia.
Mossad claimed the network intensified its activities following the October 7 Hamas terror attack, targeting Jewish and Israeli sites worldwide.
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