Australia can now designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group under new laws just passed by Parliament.
The Criminal Code Amendment (State Sponsors of Terrorism) Bill 2025 passed the Senate on Nov. 6 without amendment, creating a legal framework to hold state-backed groups accountable for orchestrating or supporting terrorist activity in Australia.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the legislation sent an unmistakable warning to hostile regimes.
“This legislation is a warning that foreign states and their supporters who seek to fuel division, create fear, erode social cohesion and perpetrate violence in the Australian community will be held to account,” she said.
Terror Listing Powers
Under the new law, the government can formally designate foreign state actors as state sponsors of terrorism—a power previously limited to non-state organisations such as Hamas or Islamic State.
Rowland said the framework “fills a critical gap” in national security legislation by ensuring governments that enable or conduct terrorism can face the same penalties as extremist networks.
Once an entity is listed, it becomes a criminal offence to support, fund, train, or collaborate with that organisation.
The law also prohibits coordination, communication, or information sharing with listed bodies — except in limited diplomatic or consular contexts.
Rowland said the expanded powers gives the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police the same counterterrorism tools they use against non-state extremists.
The bill is passed just a day after ASIO chief Mike Burgess issued a warning that three nations were prepared to attempt an assassination locally.
IRGC Behind Australian Attacks
The legislation follows the ASIO determination that Iran’s IRGC was behind two anti-Semitic arson attacks late last year—one targeting Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney on Oct. 20, 2024, and another at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne on Dec. 6.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the findings left little doubt about Tehran’s direct involvement.
“ASIO has now gathered enough credible intelligence to reach a deeply disturbing conclusion that the Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks,” he said in August. “Iran has sought to disguise its involvement.”
In response, Australia expelled Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi, declared three other diplomats persona non grata, and suspended embassy operations in Tehran.
The IRGC’s Global Reach
Formed in 1979 after Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the IRGC acts as both the ideological guardian of Iran’s regime and one of its most powerful political and military institutions.
Reporting directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the force controls vast sectors of Iran’s economy, including construction, energy, and telecommunications.
Its elite Quds Force, responsible for external operations, has long been accused of training, arming, and financing militant groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
The United States and several European nations have already designated the IRGC a terrorist organisation.
