At least three foreign countries are willing to assassinate political dissidents on Australian soil and are capable of carrying out ­“lethal targeting”, the nation’s top spy has warned.

In a dark speech to the Lowy Institute at Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday night, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess did not name those nations that posed a threat, but said foreign governments could try to cover their tracks by using “criminal cut-outs”, just as Iran did when it directed recent anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Given the degrading trajectory of our security environment and the growing willingness of regimes to conduct high-harm operations, ASIO assesses there is a realistic possibility a foreign government will attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia. This threa

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