EDITORIAL: Iran’s evil fully exposed but fear campaign lingers

For more than 40 years, Iran’s chief foreign policy instrument has been state-sponsored terrorism abroad.

The specific targets shift, but the methods and the goals stay the same.

They employ a network of terrorist proxies and criminal surrogates around the world. They seek out wannabe lone wolves to manipulate and coerce.

And they provide them with the resources and inspiration to stoke fear, sow discord and pursue their hateful, depraved jihad far beyond its own borders. They kill, kidnap and harass.

This is not a new phenomenon. But as war rages in the Middle East, provoked by the mass slaughter of 1200 Israelis by the Iranian-backed terrorist militia Hamas on October 7, 2023, the threat has escalated.

We cannot continue to pretend that we have no stake in this conflict

In Europe, Swedish criminal syndicate Foxtrot Network has expanded from drug trafficking into terror on behalf of Iran, spreading the rogue nation’s maniacal message through contract killings and assaults as well as attacks on Israeli embassies in Sweden and Denmark.

Last year, the head of UK’s MI5 said British authorities had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since 2022.

Now, we know the threat has reached our shores.

Authorities say Iran was pulling the strings of those responsible for at least two anti-Semitic attacks on Australian soil. Likely, that number is greater.

The first attack was on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Bondi. The deli was set ablaze in October 2024, causing $1 million in damage.

Then in December, the nation was shocked when Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue was firebombed. It was an act of anti-Semitism so egregious, so appalling, that it was difficult to countenance such a crime could take place in Australia.

Now we know the truth. This was an act of terror conceived across the world, by a nation with an all-consuming obsession with the obliteration of Israel and the destruction of liberal democracy.

It is a mercy that no one was killed in either attack. But they were successful in perpetuating anti-Semitism and striking fear into the hearts of Jewish Australians.

Rightly, Australia has reacted by ordering Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and three other Iranian officials to leave the country within seven days. Australian diplomats in Iran have been evacuated and operations at the embassy in Tehran suspended. Australian citizens in Iran have been urged to get out for their own safety.

It’s the first time since World War II that Australia has expelled an ambassador.

These revelations are a powerful reminder of what the world — not just Israel — is up against.

We are fighting against unhinged, fanatical despots who want to destroy our way of life, tear at our social cohesion and spread their hateful ideology.

We cannot continue to pretend that this is solely a foreign conflict in which we have no stake.

This is what those who rail against Israel and shout the slogans of its enemies are cheering for.

Terror and destruction. Not only against Israel but in every corner of the world, including our own.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.