The United Stated Department of State’s latest annual report on terrorism underlined the threats that have been posed by the Iranian regime and highlights the need to counter their terrorism whilst the nuclear talks are still underway in Vienna.
Also highlighted in the report is how the regime has been using the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force to support other terrorist organizations around the world, with the regime’s terrorism network reportedly extending to Africa and South America, as well as Europe and Asia. The regime also heavily supports terror groups in countries across the Middle East, including in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
On December 7, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice uncovered two large caches of Iranian weapons seized in late 2019 and early 2020 while en-route to Yemen via the Arabian Sea.
The Iranian Resistance unveiled details of the regime’s huge UAV program, which is operated by the IRGC Quds Force, during a press conference in October. The information was gathered by the network of members and supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from inside Iran, and it was discovered that the UAVs have been used by the regime’s terrorist proxy groups to cause chaos across the Middle East.
Since the 1980s, the Iranian regime have been heavily supporting terrorism in other Muslim countries across the region, and further afield. The lack of response from international powers to this fact has only encouraged the regime to continue their malign activities without fear of retribution, allowing them to spread their reign of terror worldwide.
The most prominent case of the regime’s terrorism in Europe is the foiled bombing of the Iranian Resistance’s rally in 2018 in France. The Iranian regime’s diplomat-terrorist, Assadollah Assadi, attempted to bomb the ‘Free Iran’ rally but was arrested shortly before the operation, along with his three co-conspirators.
Last month, appeal cases were filed through a court in Belgium for Assadi’s three accomplices who were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences at the start of the year. During the appeal sessions, more information came to light about the plot, with explosive experts highlighting just how extensive the numbers of casualties would have been if the bomb had been detonated as planned.
During Assadi’s trial earlier this year, it was discovered that he was operating an extensive network of Iranian spies across Europe. With further arrests of Iranian operatives, more information is being uncovered, showcasing just how deep Iran’s terrorism is rooted in Europe.
The Iranian regime’s terrorism in Europe dates to the 1980s. This fact was highlighted in November 2021, when, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), the Norwegian National Criminal Investigation Service accused Lebanese national and a former senior Iranian diplomat at the regime’s embassy in Oslo.
The two men were attempting to assassinate William Nygaard, the former head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug, for publishing the Norwegian edition of the Salman Rushdie novel, The Satanic Verses.
The regime has consistently used terrorism as leverage to pressure the international community to continue appeasing to their demands. The only way to counter the Iranian regime’s terrorism is to impose genuine sanctions on it and end any conciliatory policy toward this regime. The regime’s embassies should be shut down, and its agents should be expelled from all Western countries, and this would undoubtedly curb the regime’s terrorist activities.
