An investigative report by the Sydney Morning Herald citing court documents reveals that gangsters allegedly hired by Iran to carry out anti-Semitic attacks badly bungled their mission, hitting incorrect targets and fleeing when spotted by bystanders.
Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador to the country after it accused Tehran of backing attacks on Jewish targets in the country, including arson on a synagogue, in a separate case involving other suspects..
Australia said Iran guided arson attacks on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne December 2024 and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney last year.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said it had traced funding to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran has denied the allegations.
Detailed communications among the alleged perpetrators show the ringleader of the attack on the restaurant was a man named Sayed Moosawi, according to the documents cited by the newspaper.
Moosawi, it added, recruited another individual, Wayne Ogden, to plan an attack on the Curly Lewis Brewery — a site with no apparent connection to the Jewish community or faith.
Ogden, together with another suspect Joun Amoui, drove to the brewery wearing masks and rubber gloves one of them armed with a sledgehammer. However, Signal messages indicate that Amoui panicked and fled the scene when spotted by a member of the public.
Moosawi, who referred to himself as “James Bond” in the messages, reacted furiously, cursing at the two and berating them for their ineptitude.
The pair later regrouped with two new accomplices, Guy Finnegan and Craig Banfoft, in a renewed attempt to torch the brewery. That arson attempt failed as well, with sprinklers extinguishing the fire and limiting damage.
In subsequent messages, one of the accomplices even joked that the group might be targeting the wrong site. Eventually, in October 2024, the team succeeded in setting fire to the Curly Lewis Brewery’s kitchen, causing extensive damage.
According to court evidence, Moosawi allegedly paid $12,000 in total and offered $4,000 to the two accomplices to complete the attack. He has a prior criminal record and arrived in Australia in 2005 with his family on refugee status.
The prime minister said the government’s actions sent a clear message that foreign-directed aggression on Australian soil would not be tolerated.
