Victims of Iranian terror describe trauma

The acting president of Melbourne’s Adass Israel synagogue has described the revelation of Iranian involvement in the December firebombing as “traumatic”.

Benjamin Klein said this confirms the community’s worst fears about state-sponsored terrorism.

Speaking to the media at the burnt-out Ripponlea synagogue following news of Iran’s role in the attack, he said authorities had previously assured the community there was no evidence of foreign involvement.

“In our many meetings with Victoria Police and Federal Police, we have asked the question, if they believe state sponsored terrorism [is] involved in this, [and] the response always was very much that they had no evidence of it,” Klein said.

“Now there seems to be some strong evidence from ASIO to the government and Victoria Police and Federal Police. So it seems at the moment that they’ve uncovered something which maybe in the back of our heads we’ve thought about in the past.”