Caitlin Johnstone’s 21 Questions about Iran orchestrating terror attacks on Australia
Ok.
3 things.
1 – I have zero time for the Iranian Theocracy, they beat up and kill girls for not wearing the right clothes FFS. When a girls wardrobe is your biggest enemy, what type of horror are you?
2 – It’s almost unbelievable that Australia will react diplomatically against Iran for these allegations, yet won’t kick out the Israeli Ambassador for a war crime genocide.
3 – I think Caitlin Johnstone is one of the most gifted Australian critics since Pilger.
Her must read 21 questions around these extraordinary allegations that the Iranians plotted arson attacks against Jewish synagogues raises more questions than answers…
21 Questions About The Claim That Iran Orchestrated Antisemitic Attacks In Australia
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Canberra will be expelling the Iranian ambassador and legislating to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. Albanese says the move is because an assessment by the intelligence agency ASIO has concluded that Iran used a “complex web of proxies” to orchestrate two antisemitic arson attacks in Australia in order to “undermine social cohesion and sow discord”.
As you might expect, not one shred of evidence has been provided for this assertion, much less the giant mountain of rock-solid proof required for intelligence agency credibility in a post-Iraq invasion world.
This hasn’t stopped the Murdoch press from going ballistic and framing the assertion as a “bombshell revelation” of an established fact. It also hasn’t stopped Australia’s state broadcaster the ABC from publishing an article by Laura Tingle with the flagrantly propagandistic title “Revelations Iran was behind antisemitic attacks show IRGC tentacles have reached Australia”. Evidence-free assertions made by the government are not “revelations”, and to frame them as such is journalistic malpractice.
The Israeli government has publicly claimed credit for pressuring Albanese to take these actions, after Netanyahu personally inserted himself into Australian affairs by repeatedly publicly expressing outrage about alleged antisemitic incidents in Australia.
Anyway, here are 21 questions we should all be asking about these new claims:
1. Where is the evidence?
2. May we please see the evidence?
3. Why can’t we see the evidence?
4. In what way would it benefit Iran to orchestrate antisemitic attacks in Australia?
5. In what way would it benefit Iran to “undermine social cohesion and sow discord” in Australia?
6. Please explain how orchestrating antisemitic attacks in Australia would advance Iranian interests more than the interests of some other state, like, say, just for example, Israel?
7. What foreign intelligence agencies were involved in helping ASIO gather the information it used to make its assessment about the Iranian involvement in these incidents?
8. What were the names of all the people in the “complex web of proxies” allegedly used to conduct these attacks which ASIO claims ultimately traced back to Tehran?
9. Does Anthony Albanese’s announcement that Iran is staging antisemitic attacks in Australia have anything to do with Benjamin Netanyahu’s stern letter to Albanese a week earlier demanding that the prime minister take action on alleged antisemitic incidents in Australia by the deadline of September 23?
10. Does Albanese’s announcement that Iran is staging antisemitic attacks in Australia have anything to do with the fact that Israel is reportedly very close to initiating another war with Iran?
11. Does Albanese’s announcement that Iran is staging antisemitic attacks in Australia have anything to do with the way Australians have been filling the streets in massive numbers to protest the Gaza holocaust?
12. Why kick out the Iranian ambassador and designate the IRGC as a terrorist group while keeping the Israeli ambassador in Australia and doing absolutely nothing to stop the IDF during an active genocide?
13. Which state benefits more from the Australian government’s efforts to stomp out free speech in the name of curbing antisemitic incidents: Iran or Israel?
14. Which state would benefit more from fomenting hostilities between Canberra and Tehran: Iran or Israel?
15. Are we being asked to forget the way Australian intelligence services facilitated the lies that led to the invasion of Iraq, or simply to ignore this?
16. Are we being asked to forget the fact that we’ve been lied to and manipulatedabout all things involving Israel for the last two years, or simply to ignore this?
17. Are we being asked to forget that the claims about “antisemitic attacks” in Australia have been exposed as bogus or riddled with glaring plot holes over and over again since 2023, or simply to ignore this?
18. Are we being asked to forget that supporters of Israel have an extensive history of staging false antisemitic incidents in order to advance the interests of the Zionist state, or simply to ignore this?
19. Does the Australian government believe Australians are all complete slobbering idiots?
2o. Does the Australian government believe Australians are all high on ayahuasca?
21. What specific mental illness, intellectual disability, or chemically-induced altered state of consciousness does the Australian government believe Australians are all suffering from which would cause us to accept these unfounded assertions as true?
Of course none of these questions will ever be answered by anyone with real power. The reason it’s ASIO telling us this happened instead of police or investigative journalists is because police and journalists are expected to lay out the evidence for their assertions, while intelligence agencies are not.
Whenever the powerful present us with evidence-free incendiary claims of significant consequence, I like to remind my readers of Hitchens’ razor: “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”
It sure was selfless of the Iranians to orchestrate these attacks against their own interests, solely to benefit the interests of Israel, just as hundreds of thousands of Australians are filling the streets in protest against Israel’s genocidal atrocities, and just as Israel prepares for war with Iran. That sure was kind and charitable of them.
Bunch of top blokes, those Iranians. It’s too bad they’re terrorists now.
…she is 100% right.
There has been fuck all evidence put forward to justify these extraordinary allegations and before we can take them seriously, we must see the actual evidence.
Again, I am no friend nor champion of the Iranian Theocracy, but I understand why it’s there (because of the CIA coup) and if we are seriously gong to condemn them for fanning the flames of ant-semitism, then we need to see the evidence.
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The Mossad puppets at ASIO also lied on their masters orders, and said that Iraq had WMD in 2003. The sources were the same- lying zionists. Their collaborationists were the same- lying zionists. ASIO’s Director-General, Mike Burgess, is even married to a dual citizen of ‘israel’, Rachael Falk. The idea that these characters are even remotely trustworthy is ridiculous. Like all zionists, they are the opposite of trustworthy.
Of course the genocide cheerleader Winston Peters accepted this nonsense without any evidence. Just like how he lied to say that ‘israel’ had the right to shut down UNRWA aid to Palestinians because they ‘might’ be run by the democratically elected Palestinian government, Hamas. Just like how he lied to say that ‘israel’ had every right to block baby formula to the Gaza concentration camp, because supposedly (according to only… zionists like him) Hamas was stealing it. Just like he told all his lies.
I really enjoyed Fauda as a Netflix drama – lol – Musta’ribeen are an elite Israeli undercover unit that disguises themselves as Arabs or Palestinians. (or Iranians)
All I can say is if the Iranian group are terrorists then the IDF and Israel sure as hell are .The IDF have been openly killing people for 50 years and stealing land but a blind eye is turned because they are funded by the USA and FRANCE .Trump is unleashing his own terrorist Home guard on his people in Washington and other cities weekly so look out .Luckily we dont have a big armed force because I am sure there are a couple in the current government that would use them to enforce the take over of what ever their doners demanded .
From Google:
The Five Eyes is a multilateral intelligence-sharing alliance of five English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Formed from post-World War II cooperation, the alliance operates under the UKUSA Agreement, focusing on sharing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and other forms of intelligence to monitor global threats and protect shared national interests. The network is the most enduring intelligence-sharing arrangement in history and is critical for coordinating efforts in counterterrorism and other critical security matters.
…..
Purpose: To share intelligence, including intercepted communications, satellite surveillance, and spy reports, to monitor global threats and protect the member countries’ national interests.
…..
Activities: The group is critical for coordinating signals intelligence and counterterrorism efforts, making it a vital framework for global security.
How It Works
Information Exchange:
Member countries participate in an intelligence exchange system where information gathered by one nation is made available to all.
The Five Eyes provides a framework for coordination and collaboration on global intelligence matters, ensuring a robust response to emerging threats.
OK. That’s pretty clear. I have some questions;
First of all I note that Iran’s embassy is still in Wellington.
And I also notice that our government and security intelligence services don’t seem to be taking this ’emerging threat’ particularly seriously.
The press release said Australian police “were working” with its Five Eyes Partners including New Zealand.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/571257/iran-link-to-australian-synagogue-attack-uncovered-via-funding-trail-spy-agency-says
“Police were working with the Five Eyes intelligence network that also includes Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand”
Since the Five Eyes Network is an intelligence sharing network, this presumably means that our security inteligence services have been privy to this secret evidence.
Will our slow as always mainstream media journos ever get around to questioning Andrew Hampton the public face and current Director-General of the SIS and GCSB if he has seen this evidence? Yes/No
And, if not, why not?
If Andrew Hampton the current Director-General admits he has seen this secret evidence, does he think it is credible? Yes/No
If Andrew Hampton replies that he thinks this secret evidence is credible, will he be asked if our police and security services are investigating whether criminal gangs in this country have been approached with cash offers to commit anti-Semitic attacks? Yes/No
Yet the Iranians have the 2nd largest Jewish population in the world who are venerated by the majority Shia Muslim Iranians.
Free Palestine
There is no evidence because Albanese’s claim is a massive, blatant and bare-faced lie. Period. The “leaders” of Australia and New Zealand and their security services are liars with no redeeming qualities at all.
Contrast the IRGC. I breached the perimeter of an IRGC base at Karaj while on a natural history mission, was apprehended by an armed patrol and after a brief exchange sent on my way. A very human, forgiving and common sense approach. Then, in Tehran I was involved in an incident in which the IRGC intervened on behalf of a woman who I and they considered was being mistreated by an over-zealous official. The IRGC are composed of principled, humane and courageous people. The very antithesis of the Australia and New Zealand government’s thugs in uniform. I will always support the IRGC over the New Zealand and Australian governments. Even if I am to be called a terrorist myself for doing so.
IDF mole in ASIO? They are everywhere else.
From Google:
The Five Eyes is a multilateral intelligence-sharing alliance of five English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Formed from post-World War II cooperation, the alliance operates under the UKUSA Agreement, focusing on sharing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and other forms of intelligence to monitor global threats and protect shared national interests. The network is the most enduring intelligence-sharing arrangement in history and is critical for coordinating efforts in counterterrorism and other critical security matters.
…..
Purpose: To share intelligence, including intercepted communications, satellite surveillance, and spy reports, to monitor global threats and protect the member countries’ national interests.
…..
Activities: The group is critical for coordinating signals intelligence and counterterrorism efforts, making it a vital framework for global security.
How It Works
Information Exchange:
Member countries participate in an intelligence exchange system where information gathered by one nation is made available to all.
The Five Eyes provides a framework for coordination and collaboration on global intelligence matters, ensuring a robust response to emerging threats.
OK. That’s pretty clear. I have some questions;
First of all I note that Iran’s embassy is still in Wellington.
And I also notice that our government and security intelligence services don’t seem to be taking this ’emerging threat’ particularly seriously.
The press release said Australian police “were working with its Five Eyes Partners” including New Zealand.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/571257/iran-link-to-australian-synagogue-attack-uncovered-via-funding-trail-spy-agency-says
“Police were working with the Five Eyes intelligence network that also includes Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand”
Since the Five Eyes Network is an intelligence sharing network, this presumably means that our security inteligence services have been privy to this secret evidence.
Will our slow as always mainstream media journos ever get around to questioning Andrew Hampton the public face and current Director-General of the SIS and DGSE if he has viewed this evidence? Yes/No
And, if not, why not?
If Andrew Hampton, the current Director-General of our intelligence services admits that he has seen this secret evidence, wiill he be asked by our lame stream media journos, ‘Is this evidence credible?’ Yes/No
If Andrew Hampton replies that he thinks this secret evidence is credible, will he be asked; are our police and security services investigating whether criminal gangs in this country have been, or are being, approached with cash offers to commit anti-Semitic attacks? Yes/No
And if no, why not?
And if yes, ‘Have you found any evidence that criminal gangs in this country are being approached to commit anti-Semitic attacks?’ Yes/No
Most interesting too is the fact that, at the outset, it was reported in March that “an organised crime network fabricated a plot to attack a synagogue in Australia to divert law enforcement resources, according to police.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Monday that the discovery of explosives in a caravan parked in Sydney was part of a “criminal con job”. The country has previously said it suspected there were criminal links to a surge in anti-Semitic crime since the start of the Gaza war.
In a statement on Monday, the AFP said its investigation, named Operation Kissinger, has identified a number of people involved in the fake terrorism plot and is working with local and overseas law enforcement to bring them to justice.
It was decided to release the information to the public to provide comfort to Sydney’s Jewish community, New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told a news conference.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/10/mob-faked-attack-on-australian-synagogue-police
From the BBC:
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was the first time since World War Two that Australia had expelled an ambassador…..
You really have to wonder at the accuracy of the information being passed on to the Australian government by the Austraslian intelligence services when these Colonel Blimps can’t even get this right.
Diplomatic expulsions from Australia
International Relations and Trade
Nigel Brew 19 May 2022
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Research/FlagPost/2022/May/diplomatic-expulsions