Australian investigators announced that the terrorists responsible for the Bondi Beach attack had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, with an Islamic State flag found in their car, according to a senior Joint Counter Terrorism Team official cited by ABC News in a report published during the 59-minute window ending at 12:46 AM UTC on December 15, 2025. The ABC News live blog detailed the finding of the IS flag in the terrorists' vehicle, as stated by the unnamed senior JCTT official. This information emerged over the past hour amid ongoing investigations into the December 14 attack on a Jewish gathering. This development follows an earlier assessment by an unnamed Israeli intelligence source to The Telegraph, shared between 9:17 PM and 9:46 PM UTC on December 14, that the Bondi Beach operation bore hallmarks of a state-sponsored event. Separately, Ahmad Ghadiri Abyaneh, son of Iran's former ambassador to Australia, posted antisemitic content on X hours before the attack, according to Iran International.
