Man Haron Monis was wanted in Iran since 2000

Man Haron Monis – the gunman behind Sydney café siege – was wanted in Iran since 14 years ago, but Australia refused to hand him over.

The head of Iran’s police, General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, told reporters that Man Haron Monis was wanted for fraud at the time.

He said Man Haron Monis had fled to Australia via Malaysia in the late 1990s.

Man Haron Monis and two hostages were shot dead on Tuesday morning, when commandos stormed the Sydney cafe where he had been holding captives for 16 hours.

Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said Man Haron Monis was known in Iran as “Manteqi”.

“In 1996, he was the manager of a travel agency and committed fraud,” the general told reporters.

“He then fled to Malaysia and from there, to Australia under a fake name.”

He added that “since we did not have an agreement on the extradition of criminals with Australia, the Australian police refused to extradite him”.

Man Haron Monis applied for political asylum to obtain refugee status in Australia, Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said, describing the incident as “a play”.

Meanwhile the Australian government has announced it is investigating why Man Haron Monis was released on bail on separate charges.

He had a history of religiously inspired activism, but officials say there is as yet no evidence his actions were linked to international Islamist movements.

In 2008, Man Haron Monis he was convicted of sending offensive letters to the families of fallen Australian soldiers in 2009.

In 2013, he was charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, and given bail.

Man Haron Monis also faced more than 40 s**ual and indecent assault charges.