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A PhD candidate accused of planning to use Molotov cocktails in a terror attack on the Gold Coast on Australia Day has been denied bail.

Sepehr Saryazdi, who worked at the CSIRO, appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday after being charged with one count of acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act.


During a bail application, the court heard the 24-year-old had been brought to the attention of counter terrorism officers after information was received about things he was allegedly posting online.

Commonwealth prosecutor Ellie McDonald told the court the alleged offending related to Facebook Messenger chats within a private group containing over 50 people.

Mr Saryazdi was a high achieving student who last year posted on LinkedIn about having graduated with a combined Bachelor of Science and Master of Mathematical Sciences from the University of Sydney.

He had also worked in robotics and even gave a lecture at a Physics in the Pub event on graphing application Desmos — telling the audience it was a "Turing Complete feast", allowing people to code anything they wanted.

Mr Saryazdi was also in his youth an aspiring actor, landing a part in a Hungry Jack's commercial in 2019 and performing with a local acting school in New South Wales among other roles.

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