"These Iranian proxy groups are formally designated as terrorist organisations by much of the democratic world, while Iran describes them as “liberation movements.” In practice, they serve Tehran’s goals: they destabilise neighbours, attack Western targets, and keep alive the dream of Israel’s annihilation. Hezbollah’s bombing in Argentina, Hamas’s massacres of Israeli civilians, and the Houthis’ missile attacks in the Red Sea all lead back to Iran. The US State Department estimates that Tehran spent more than US$16 billion between 2012 and 2020 sustaining Bashar al-Assad and his militia allies in Syria. Hezbollah alone received upwards of US$700 million in that period. Iran’s reach has extended into Europe, Asia, and now, as we have learned, into Australia."