Iran targets Jewish TV reporter Sharri Markson in sinister spy operation as ASIO warns of assassination threat

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has confirmed Iranian intelligence operatives targeted high-profile Australians — including prominent Jewish television host Sharri Markson — in sophisticated cyber espionage operations, as the nation’s spy chief warns the regime could carry out assassinations on Australian soil.

Markson says a notorious Iranian state-sponsored cyber espionage group known as “Charming Kitten”, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, conducted an elaborate two-month sting operation that culminated in hackers gaining access to her personal emails and information.

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess told News24 the journalist had been deliberately targeted because of her prominent media profile, support for Israel and criticism of Iran.

“This is part of Iran’s anti-America, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic agenda,” he said.

“Nation states like Iran are prepared to do covert acts of violence or direct covert acts of violence across the globe, including here in Australia. I remain concerned that they could conduct assassinations on Australian soil.”

In a further alarming revelation, Mr Burgess confirmed former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger had also been identified on an Iranian intelligence target list.

“We know he was targeted, we saw his details on a to-do list. He’s on a target list,” he told News24.

Mr Burgess said Mr Kroger’s strong support for Israel and the Jewish community made him a target of the regime’s anti-American and anti-Israel agenda.

ASIO detected the operation and warned Mr Kroger before the suspected Iranian operatives could successfully compromise his accounts.

“ASIO informed me some weeks ago of the threat and I’m grateful they were able to pick up the threat so early on,” Mr Kroger told News24.

“It’s a chilling reminder of how dangerous the Iranian regime is. The Iranian Government constitutes the greatest threat to world peace.”

The revelations come amid growing concerns about Iran’s hostile activities in Australia, with Mr Burgess repeatedly warning the regime could escalate its campaign of intimidation and violence against Jewish communities.

In a speech at an international counterterrorism conference on Monday, Mr Burgess warned the country’s security environment was deteriorating, with espionage, foreign interference and politically motivated violence posing simultaneous threats to national security.

The intelligence chief disclosed that four major terrorist plots had been foiled since the Bondi Beach massacre in December, while intelligence and law enforcement agencies had dealt with 16 serious terrorism-related cases involving preliminary planning or consideration of planning between the attack and August.

In his annual threat assessment in June, Mr Burgess confirmed Iran’s IRGC had orchestrated the 2024 firebombings of Sydney’s Lewis Continental Kitchen and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue through a network of intermediaries, including Australian-based criminals.

Mr Burgess also warned there was a realistic possibility that an Iran-aligned group responsible for attacks targeting Jewish interests across Europe could expand its operations to Australia.

“I do worry that one day an Australian will be killed at the hands of a foreign government here in Australia,” he said in June.

Markson revealed details of the cyber operation on Tuesday.

The operation began in August, when Markson received a message from a trusted former Trump administration official whose X account had allegedly been infiltrated by an Iranian operative.

Impersonating the official, the suspected operative invited her to meet researchers from Washington-based think tank Hudson Institute and introduced her to a woman called “Cathleen Batz”.

After weeks of correspondence, Markson attempted to join a video meeting on October 8, but the call would not connect. She became suspicious when the woman resisted her suggestion to speak on the phone instead.

She contacted the American official through another messaging platform, only to discover he knew nothing about the meeting and his X account had been compromised.

By then, the attackers had allegedly accessed Markson’s Google Drive, containing personal emails and information.

News Corp’s cybersecurity experts subsequently attributed the operation to “Charming Kitten”, an Iranian state-sponsored cyber espionage group linked to the IRGC and accused of conducting intelligence operations against journalists, government officials, activists and other high-profile targets.

Mr Burgess described the attack as bearing the hallmarks of a professional intelligence agency.

“It’s a relatively sophisticated, targeted social engineering campaign to bait you and point you to a link that executes code that gives them access,” he told News24.

Markson said ASIO, NSW Police and the United States Department of Homeland Security are all investigating the incident.