Australia designates Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation
The carrying out of two anti-Semitic attacks, with the Iranian ambassador, Ahmed Sadeghi, as a suspected participant, in Melbourne and Sydney have set off alarm bells in the country. As a result, the authorities, through Parliament, have taken the decision to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a "terrorist entity".
The news was announced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said that he would make the IRGC's inclusion on the list of terrorist organisations official at the next meeting of ministers. "The Iranian government has led at least two anti-Semitic attacks in Australia. This is intolerable," the prime minister concluded. Albanese also acknowledged that the attacks had been coordinated by the Iranian regime, according to information from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
This is the first expulsion of an Australian ambassador since World War II, according to a statement issued by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
An international consensus
However, Australia is not the first or second country to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity. Since the United States, under the first presidential term of current President Donald Trump, several countries have followed in the footsteps of the Americans.
In the six years since Washington announced the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity in 2019, countries such as Canada, Lithuania, and Argentina have also echoed the measure. In the case of Argentina, the reason lies in an investigation blaming the Iranian government, which denies the accusations, and the IRGC for causing more than 85 deaths in an attack in the country's capital, Buenos Aires, in 1994.
In the case of Lithuania, the only European Union country to have recognised the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, the reasons have nothing to do with any type of attack suffered in the country, but rather because they consider that the IRGC's practices and motives when acting are identical to those of other radical terrorist groups.
Although the European Union has not yet announced the designation, the issue has been the subject of debate on numerous occasions, but the lack of consensus has dashed the Eurogroup's intentions to include them on the list. In the Canadian case, the mention of the IRGC as a terrorist entity stems from the severing of relations with Tehran in 2012.
What is the Revolutionary Guard?
Unknown to many, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is one of the most powerful organisations in the Islamic Republic. Its influence extends to the afterlife, affecting the country's politics, education and economic decisions.
Its emergence in 1979, following the Islamic revolution, had as its main objective to maintain the Ayatollahs' theocratic system and ensure its continuity. Other functions of the Guard include maintaining Iran's international role in the Middle East region and supporting proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis; ensuring the loyalty of the people and preventing possible coups; and serving as a counterweight to the Iranian Armed Forces (Artesh).
Israel's discontent
Australia is one of the countries with the highest number of Jews per capita in the world after the holocaust of World War II.
After learning of the two attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that he felt betrayed by Albanese. The Israeli authorities' suspicions stem from the recent announcement by the Australian Parliament to recognise the Two-State Solution for Palestine.
