Israel’s Mossad on Sunday publicly identified a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) figure it says oversaw multiple foiled attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide in 2024–2025 and pointed to fresh diplomatic fallout, including Australia’s expulsion of Iran’s ambassador and Germany’s summoning of Tehran’s envoy.
In a statement released via the Prime Minister’s Office on behalf of the Mossad, the agency said it was “exposing for the first time” a network under Sardar Ammar, a senior IRGC commander operating under Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Force, which it said directed attempts in Australia, Greece, and Germany.
The Mossad described the modus operandi as “terror without Iranian fingerprints, high compartmentalization, recruitment of foreigners, use of criminals, and covert communications,” adding that “thanks to intensive activity with partners in Israel and abroad, dozens of attack tracks were thwarted, saving many lives.”
The agency said Ammar’s mechanism “was directly responsible for the attempted attacks revealed in Greece, Australia, and Germany over the past year,” alleging it sought to strike “Israeli and Jewish targets in Israel and abroad” but was repeatedly exposed, leading to “a wave of arrests.”
The Mossad also cited diplomatic repercussions it said were tied to the network’s exposure and broader Iranian activity.
In late August, Australia expelled Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and said it would move to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization after intelligence linked Tehran to antisemitic arson attacks in Melbourne and Sydney; Sadeghi denied the allegations as he departed the country.
In Germany, authorities in July summoned Iran’s ambassador, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, after the arrest of a Danish suspect accused of surveilling Jewish and Israel-linked sites in Berlin on behalf of Iranian intelligence, with officials warning such activity could be preparatory to terrorist attacks.
Years-long campaign
The Mossad statement framed Iran’s approach as a years-long campaign to exact a cost from Israel “by harming innocents around the globe while maintaining deniability,” and said the new exposure “strips Iran of its space for denial, removes its immunity, and exacts heavy diplomatic costs.”
Recent cases in Greece illustrate the pattern: in 2024, Greek police arrested suspects, including Iranian and Afghan nationals, over arson attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and a synagogue in Athens; earlier, in 2023, two Pakistanis were charged over an alleged Iranian-directed plot to target Israeli and Jewish sites in the city.
