Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign minister, announced on Thursday, November 27, that the Australian government has placed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on its list of “state sponsors of terrorism.” This decision was made following extensive security and intelligence assessments and reflects a significant shift in Canberra’s approach toward the destabilizing actions of Iran’s regime both inside and outside the country.
This decision comes after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier, in September, accused Iran’s regime of orchestrating two antisemitic attacks and the arson of properties belonging to the Jewish community in Sydney and Melbourne. He also announced that Australia would expel the Iranian regime’s ambassador. Albanese further emphasized that Australia’s embassy operations in Tehran had been suspended and that all Australian diplomats had been relocated to a third country for their safety.
Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), also stated that thorough and detailed investigations by the agency had proven the IRGC’s direct involvement in these attacks and established that this entity had orchestrated at least two — and likely more — attacks against Jewish interests in Australia. Following these revelations, the Australian government declared Ahmad Sadeghi, the Iranian regime’s ambassador, along with three other regime officials, as “persona non grata” and ordered them to leave the country within seven days.
The IRGC’s record of terrorism
The IRGC, particularly its Quds Force, has for years been recognized as one of the most active state-sponsored terrorist organizations in the world. It has played a direct role in financing, organizing, and carrying out violent operations across the region, including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, and has used proxy militias to advance the repressive policies of Iran’s regime. According to numerous reports from international media outlets and human rights organizations, the IRGC has been central to assassinating Iranian dissidents abroad, conducting bombings, building terrorist networks, and participating in attacks against civilian targets. As a result, it has been sanctioned and listed as a terrorist entity in many countries in recent years.
The IRGC is already designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, and many countries — including Canada and the European Union — are under pressure from their parliaments to do the same. However, the policy of engaging in deals with Iran’s regime has so far prevented its formal designation in those jurisdictions.
