Ciccone: IRGC still projecting violence beyond its borders

Labor senator Raff Ciccone has told the Senate that Australia’s listing of the IRGC and expulsion of Iran’s ambassador were not the end of the job, after Australia joined 31 other nations in condemning Iran for lethal plotting, arson, sabotage and cyber-attacks.

The joint statement centred on a suspected plot against RAF Fairford, the British air base used by American forces, which the United Kingdom attributed to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“This statement reflects a pattern the free world can no longer ignore,” Ciccone said. “Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, dissidents, diasporas and allied interests are being targeted across the world. Australians do not need to be told about this pattern. Sadly, we have lived it.”

He pointed to the 2024 firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and the arson attack on Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in Sydney, both of which Australian security agencies found were directed by Iran.

“They were attacks on Jewish Australians, on their sense of safety in their own country, and on the social cohesion that holds this nation together,” he said.

“The regime in Tehran has exported violence and hatred for decades. It funds armed proxies across the Middle East. It brutalises its own people. And it has brought that violence to our shores.”

Australia had responded in a way no government had since the Second World War, Ciccone said, expelling Iran’s ambassador, listing the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism, and unanimously condemning the IRGC’s repression of protesters in a Senate motion in February, which he co-sponsored.

“But listing and expulsions are not the end of the job. The Fairford plot shows the IRGC is adaptable, patient and willing to strike at the heart of allied nations,” he said.

“To Jewish Australians, to Iranian Australians who fled this regime, and to everyone who has been threatened by it — I stand with you. We will not be intimidated and we will not look away.”

Ciccone then turned to the Greens, elected to new leadership on September 30, arguing the party preached one thing and practised another across housing, foreign policy and energy.

On the community, he said new leader David Shoebridge had dismissed the prospect of mending bridges with Jewish Australians, saying instead that the Greens work alongside Jewish Australians “fighting a genocide”.

“The Member for Macnamara rightly labelled this prejudice,” Ciccone said, referring to Josh Burns.

He also said he could find no public statement of support from the Greens’ leadership marking the third anniversary of October 7.

“Last week marked three years since the October 7 terror attacks, the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said.

Ciccone was critical of the Greens on Ukraine, noting Shoebridge would support military assistance only with UN Security Council approval, despite Russia holding a veto there. “That’s like asking the offender for permission to call the police,” he said.

He noted Sarah Hanson-Young had publicly backed military assistance for Ukraine in the past 24 hours, putting her at odds with her leader.