By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s intelligence agency traced the funding of hooded criminals who allegedly set fire to a Melbourne synagogue, linking the antisemitic attack to Iran, officials said, even as those charged with the crime were likely unaware Tehran was their puppet master.
A 20-year-old local man, Younes Ali Younes, appeared in Melbourne’s Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with the December 6 arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue and theft of a car. He did not enter a plea and did not seek bail. His lawyer declined to comment to Reuters.
A day earlier Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s intelligence agencies had shown the attack, and another in Sydney last year, were directed by the Iranian government, and expelled Tehran’s ambassador, b