Key Points
- A Senate inquiry report in February recommended Australia label Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
- The Australian government says that legally it is not allowed to include the IRGC in the list of terrorist groups.
- Liberal Senator Claire Chandler says legislative amendments could enable the blacklisting.
A Senate inquiry report published on 1 February recommended the Labor Government take 12 actions against the Iranian regime.
However, more than 120 days later, the committee chair has described the Australian Government’s response to these recommendations as “slow”.
“The Australian Government has been slow to act in this regard, and I would certainly like to see a little more movement so that we can hold the Islamic regime accountable,” Liberal Senator Claire Chandler, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, told SBS Persian.
“I think that all Australians have seen what has been happening in Iran over the last, almost 12 months have passed since the death of [Jina] Mahsa Amini, and they're horrified by what they've seen,” she added.
A senior government figure told SBS Persian, “We have taken stronger action against Iran in relation to human rights than any previous Australian government. Since the protests commenced, the Australian Government has worked deliberately and strategically to build pressure internationally on Iran.”
“The opposition specialises in calling for action it failed to take. Not once did they impose new sanctions on the regime over their decade in government. They had to be dragged to finally introducing new sanctions laws, which Labor called for in opposition.”
'A mystery'
The Senate inquiry into the human rights implications of violence in Iran was launched in October in response to the crackdown on protests in the country.
This was shortly after the death in custody of Jina “Mahsa” Amini triggered protests nationwide. Many Iranians in exile, including in Australia, called on their governments to act.
The Senate committee received about 500 submissions and provided 12 recommendations.
“The need for Australia to take a strong stance is not just a moral one. The [Islamic Republic of Iran] regime and affiliated entities have a long track record of threatening, intimidating and violent behaviour targeted at other nations and its critics,” the report said.
However, many politicians and Iranian-Australian activists claim that the government has not acted on many of these suggestions, especially the listing of the IRGC as a terrorist group.
“Quite frankly, it is a mystery. I'm particularly in a situation where when our three or four months down the track from that report being tabled, we haven't had a response from the government yet as to how they're going to address the recommendations,” Ms Chandler said.
“I wouldn't want to cast any aspersions on why the government may or may not be acting. The reality is they need to act.”
Executions of protesters in Iran
In recent weeks, the execution of three protesters in Iran has increased the pressure on the Albanese Government to expand its response toward the Iranian regime.
Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were arrested in November 2022 in a protest in Iran and sentenced to death on the “War Against God” charge.
Mohammad Hashemi, Mr Kazemi’s cousin, is an Iranian-Australian and, weeks before the execution, he started a campaign asking the Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong to try to intervene.
“On 16 May 2023, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called in Iran’s chargé d'affaires to directly express these concerns regarding Iran’s use of the death penalty and to demand an end to executions. Australia’s Embassy in Tehran also expressed our deep concerns over the increase in executions directly to the regime,” a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told SBS Persian.
Three days later, Mr Kazemi was hanged.
“Senator Wong waited until Majid was murdered before condemning the Iranian government. She claims to stand with the people of Iran, but honestly, she could have taken much more effective action for my cousin,” Mr Hashemi tweeted.
Following the latest executions, Ms Chandler said, “The Australian Government does need to look back to the recommendations from the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee”.
“But the most important among those is listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. We know that the IRGC is acting like a terrorist organisation. They're organising kidnappings and murders.”
They conduct foreign interference operations and fund other terrorist organisations worldwide to destabilise other nations. We as a country need to call that behaviour out for what it is. We need to be listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.Senator Claire Chandler
Is the IRGC a terrorist organisation?
The IRGC is a branch of Iran's Armed Forces founded after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is separate from the regular military and has had a significant role in the crackdown on protests in recent years.
In February, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil accused Iran of 'interference' in Australia and held a meeting with Iranian-Australian activists.
“The committee received most of its submissions from individuals, who in telling the committee and the world of their horrific experiences, did not wish to be identified because of the constant fear of reprisals against loved ones still in Iran or continual intimidation and harassment of themselves by members of the IRGC in Australia,” the inquiry said.
In April 2019, the United States designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organisation.
However, an Attorney General’s Department spokesperson told SBS Persian that they “have advised through a submission to the Senate that, as an organ of a nation-state, it is the department’s view that the IRGC is not the kind of entity that is covered by the terrorist organisation provisions in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code).”
“Additionally, there are complex legal, policy, international and security implications associated with any potential amendments to the Criminal Code that would mean that state entities can be listed as terrorist organisations,” the spokesperson said.
Ms Chandler said the government can change the rules to list IRGC as a terrorist group like the US.
“If the government feels that they don't currently have the legislative ability to do that, then it is completely within their power to introduce some sort of legislation to the parliament that does enable them to do that,” she said.
“These are the avenues they need to pursue, and it's disappointing that we haven't seen any progress yet.”
The Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs said she will continue asking questions to the government about this.
"Australians, particularly the Iranian diaspora within Australia, deserve answers to these important questions,” she said.
SBS Persian contacted the Iranian Embassy in Canberra for comment, but they are yet to respond.
This article has been updated to include a quote from an Australian government figure received after the time of first publishing.
