For years, Eshagh Ghalibaf lived a relatively quiet life in the leafy inner-city suburb of South Yarra, Melbourne. He studied engineering, worked as a research assistant at a prestigious university, and managed rental income from Australian investment properties. To his neighbors and classmates, he may have seemed like any other international student pursuing a master’s degree.
But court documents from a protracted legal battle in Canada reveal a far more complex identity. Eshagh is the son of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The elder Ghalibaf is the current Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ (IRGC) air force—a man who has played a central role in Tehran’s hardline policies and its fraught negotiations with the West.
The discovery of these ties has sparked a debate over Australian national security and the efficacy of its sanctions framework. While Canada twice rejected Eshagh’s applications for residency, citing the Iranian regime’s systemic human rights violations, Australia granted him temporary residency and a foothold in its economy for nearly a decade.
The disparity between how two Western allies handled the son of a high-ranking IRGC-linked official raises urgent questions about vetting processes and the potential for foreign influence operations on Australian soil.
The Melbourne Footprint: Property and Academia
Much of what is known about Eshagh Ghalibaf’s time in Australia surfaced not through government disclosures, but through filings in a Canadian federal court. In an unsuccessful five-year bid for permanent residency in Canada, Eshagh provided a detailed account of his finances and movements, documenting his arrival in Melbourne in early 2014.
Between 2015 and 2018, while completing a masters of engineering at the University of Melbourne, Eshagh resided in South Yarra. Bank statements from ANZ and NAB, submitted as evidence in Canada, show that in late 2018, he received two separate monthly payments of $1,353.63 from a Melbourne-based real estate agency. Eshagh described these funds as “rent collected from tenants.”
The identity of the properties and the source of the capital used to acquire them remain undisclosed. When contacted, a source at the real estate agency noted that records from that period had been removed in accordance with Victorian legislation. The only remaining clue is a reference to “Afzali” in the transaction descriptions, a name that appears again in Eshagh’s professional history.
Beyond property, Eshagh integrated himself into the university’s academic environment. From July 2016 to June 2018, he served as a research assistant at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration (CSDILA), working approximately seven hours a week during term times.
A Tale of Two Visas
The most striking aspect of Eshagh’s journey is the contrast between the welcome he received in Australia and the wall he hit in Canada. In February 2024, Canada’s then-immigration minister Marc Miller publicly announced the refusal of Eshagh’s permanent residency application, stating, “The Iranian regime has engaged in acts of terrorism and systemic human rights violations. We stand with the people of Iran.”
This was the second time Canada had denied him entry; a 2013 application to study in Ottawa had also failed. Yet, in Australia, Eshagh maintained a visa for more than four years after finishing his degree. In a September 2022 affidavit, he confirmed he held temporary residency until the end of that month, noting he had not pursued permanent residency in Australia only because he was waiting for a decision from Canada.
| Feature | Australian Status (2014–2022) | Canadian Status (2013–2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Visa Outcome | Granted Temporary Residency | Twice Refused |
| Employment/Study | UniMelb Masters & Research Assistant | Application to study (2013) denied |
| Financial Ties | Rental income & local bank accounts | Denied residency based on regime ties |
| Government Stance | No individual sanctions imposed | Explicit refusal citing human rights |
The Network of Power
The links between the Ghalibaf family and other pillars of the Iranian establishment are deep. In Iran, Eshagh worked for a civil engineering firm led by Seyyed Abouzar Khazraei Afzali. Khazraei Afzali is the son-in-law of the late Qassem Suleimani, the former head of the IRGC’s Quds Force and one of the most influential military figures in the Middle East until his 2020 assassination.
Suleimani and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were close allies, both veterans of the Iran-Iraq war. This web of connections—stretching from the Quds Force to the Speaker of the Parliament—suggests that Eshagh’s presence in Australia was not merely that of a student, but of a member of Iran’s inner elite.
For those who have suffered under the regime, this is a critical security lapse. Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian academic who was detained in Iran for over 800 days on espionage charges, argues that the federal government “dropped the ball” on vetting. She warns that such individuals can pose a security threat to the anti-regime Iranian-Australian diaspora and the Jewish community.
Policy Failures and Security Shifts
The timing of these revelations coincides with a hardening of Australia’s stance toward Tehran. In August 2023, the Albanese government expelled Iran’s ambassador to Canberra following “credible information” that Iran had directed attacks against Australia’s Jewish community. By November, the federal government officially listed the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism.
NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma has described Australia’s sanctions framework as “full of holes,” arguing that the ability of individuals with close ties to the regime to operate freely in Australia is a “serious security failing.”
However, some experts suggest the discrepancy between Australia and Canada was a product of different diplomatic timelines. Dr. Rodger Shanahan, a former fellow at the Lowy Institute, notes that Australia maintained diplomatic relations with Iran long after Canada severed them in 2012. “You would imagine that they would view visa applications differently to each other ” Shanahan said, adding that the recent IRGC designation means such applications will now be viewed in a “completely different light.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has declined to comment on specific sanctions compliance or potential future measures.
As Australia continues to tighten its security protocols regarding foreign interference and state-sponsored terrorism, the case of Eshagh Ghalibaf serves as a benchmark for the gaps in previous vetting regimes. The next critical checkpoint will be the government’s review of existing visas held by relatives of designated IRGC officials, though no official timeline for such a sweep has been announced.
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