The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force senior official for directing attacks and espionage against current and former US and European officials, revealing an alternative name for the man revealed by the Mossad in October to be responsible for directing attacks against Jews and Israelis in multiple countries.
While the Mossad identified the IRGC-QF 11,000 corps as Sardar Ammar, the FBI on Monday presented his true name to be Saeed Tavakoli, and urged the public to submit tips and information about him.
Tavakoli was wanted for questioning by the FBI for alleged involvement in directing covert intelligence and lethal operations against past and current US and European officials, as well as dissidents, journalists, and Israeli citizens. The Mossad previously said that he was involved in attempted attacks in Australia, Greece, and Germany, but the FBI added incidents in Mexico.
In October, the Mossad identified Tavakoli as being behind a network that attempted to conduct a series of attacks in Australia, Greece, and Germany in 2024 and 2025. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release that the Mossad had thwarted many of these attacks. The Mossad specified that Tavakoli’s network orchestrated the incidents that led to the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador from Australia.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in August had accused the IRGC of directing at least two antisemitic arson attacks, the December 6 Adass Israel arson attack in Melbourne, and the October 20 Lewis’ Continental Kitchen arson attack in Sydney.
“For years, the Iranian regime has viewed terrorism as a tool to exact a price from Israel by harming innocent people worldwide, without paying military, diplomatic, or economic costs,” said the Mossad through the PMO. “Under this logic, the terrorist bodies operate while maintaining plausible deniability and a separation between the violent activity and Iran.”
Mossad working with international partners against Iranian attacks in diaspora
The Mossad said that it was working with partners around the world to thwart Iranian attacks.
US officials have repeatedly warned about attempts by Iranian actors to conduct kidnapping and assassination operations in their territory.
Last October, the New York Southern District US Attorney’s Office announced charges against eight people, including an Iranian military official, for involvement with an Iranian network seeking to murder a US citizen of Iranian origin. The Iranian network sought to hire an Eastern European criminal group to murder the journalist.
Last November, the DOJ said that three Americans were offered bounties by an IRGC official to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” Attorney-General Merrick B. Garland said at the time.