So is it an intelligence failure?

Anthony Albanese:

No, in fact, this is a rather extraordinary intelligence success by Asia and the Australian Federal Police in today’s world where things are often done on the dark web, and where you have encrypted messages, cryptocurrencies, transfers, you have a complex situation here, and it’s an extraordinary effort by ASIO and the AFP to be able to trace the chain of command, if you like, right back to the IRGC, through to the people who perpetrated these criminal acts.