Iran’s Shadowy Global Assassination Campaign: A Chilling Revelation of State-Sponsored Terror
The specter of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism looms large, casting a dark shadow across international borders. Recent events, including a federal trial in Manhattan involving alleged contract killers hired by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, coupled with shocking revelations of Tehran ordering assassinations of dissidents in Europe, underscore the urgent and escalating threat posed by the regime. These developments carry profound implications, potentially reshaping the landscape of international relations and demanding a resolute response from the global community.
The trial of the two suspects accused of targeting Alinejad unfolds against a backdrop of newly surfaced evidence implicating the highest echelons of the Iranian government in a systematic campaign of extrajudicial killings. Mohsen Rafiqdoost, a former high-level IRGC official and bodyguard to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, openly admitted in a video interview to overseeing operations aimed at eliminating exiled Iranian dissidents. His chilling confession, aired on the Iranian regime-controlled outlet Didehban-e Iran, detailed the regime’s involvement in the murders of prominent figures like former Iranian Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar, artist Fereydoun Farrokhzad, and military officials Gholam-Ali Oveissi and Shahriar Shafiq. Rafiqdoost even revealed the regime’s use of proxies, stating, "The Basque separatist group in Spain carried out these assassinations for us. We paid them, and they conducted the killings on our behalf."
These revelations demand a reassessment of Iran’s behavior on the global stage and highlight the imperative to address its threats to murder President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other Iranian-American critics. Experts emphasize that the regime’s history of violence and disregard for international law cannot be ignored. Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), asserts that Rafiqdoost’s comments constitute "an admission of guilt" that should be repeatedly invoked whenever Iranian officials deny complicity in assassination plots. He underscores that the trial serves as a stark reminder of the "regime’s terror threat," which is "real, potentially lethal, and will not go away by just burying our heads in the sand."
The international community is increasingly recognizing the gravity of the situation. Foreign ministers from the G-7 democracies recently issued a joint statement condemning Iran as "the principal source of regional instability," emphasizing that the country "must never be allowed to develop and acquire a nuclear weapon." The statement also explicitly addressed Iran’s "growing use of arbitrary detention and foreign assassination attempts as a tool of coercion," marking a significant and unusually tough collective rebuke for Iran’s efforts to target dissidents and high-profile figures across the globe.
The U.S. government has also taken steps to counter Iran’s aggression. In November, the Justice Department announced that it had thwarted an Iranian plot to kill Trump in the weeks leading up to the election. Iran expert Lisa Daftari described the revelations about Iran’s global assassination campaign as "a stark reminder of the lengths to which authoritarian regimes will go to silence dissent and exert control beyond their borders." She called for a decisive U.S. response, including stronger intelligence collaboration with allies and increased pressure on the IRGC through sanctions and other punitive measures.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism, some countries, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, have resisted classifying the IRGC as a terrorist organization. This reluctance, in the face of numerous IRGC terrorism plots and assassinations in Europe, raises serious questions about the commitment to countering Iranian aggression.
Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, a German-Iranian expert on Tehran’s assassination campaigns, highlights the disturbing pride that some Iranian officials take in their crimes. He notes that figures like Rafiqdoost "belong to the group of conservative Islamists who have never hidden the crimes they committed," openly boasting about the execution of regime opponents in exile.
The case of Fereydoun Farrokhzad, the Iranian artist murdered in Bonn, Germany, remains a point of contention. Fox News Digital has sent inquiries to German prosecutors to determine whether they plan to reopen the investigation. Mina Ahadi, a prominent German-Iranian dissident, has called for the arrest of Seyed Hossein Mousavian, Iran’s former ambassador to Germany, who is now a researcher at Princeton University. Mousavian has been accused of overseeing the assassinations of Iranian dissidents in Europe in the 1990s, including Farrokhzad, allegations he vehemently denies.
Mousavian’s past actions, including his tribute to Qassem Soleimani, the U.S. and EU-designated Iranian regime terrorist responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American military personnel, further fuel suspicion. Mousavian’s attempt to distance himself from the Farrokhzad assassination in a tweet, claiming that Tehran assured him the artist was killed by the Iranian opposition abroad, has been met with skepticism. Lawdan Bazargan, an Iranian-American human rights activist, cast doubt on Mousavian’s explanation, citing the regime’s history of luring dissidents back to Iran under false pretenses, only to execute them. She points to the case of Javad Safar as a chilling example.
The regime’s sophisticated surveillance operations and deceptive tactics, as demonstrated in the case of journalist Ruhollah Zam, underscore the lengths to which it will go to silence dissent and eliminate perceived threats. Zam’s exposure of regime corruption and his role in spreading information about protests against the clerical regime ultimately led to his execution in 2020.
The unfolding events highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive and unwavering strategy to counter Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism. This strategy must include robust intelligence gathering, targeted sanctions against the IRGC and other key figures, and unwavering support for Iranian dissidents both at home and abroad. The international community must stand united in its condemnation of Iran’s actions and send a clear message that state-sponsored terrorism will not be tolerated. Only through decisive action can the global community hope to curb Iran’s aggression and protect innocent lives from the regime’s deadly reach.
