On Thursday, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of a joint statement that had just been issued by the U.S. and 13 other nations, accusing Iran’s intelligence services of orchestrating assassination, kidnapping, and harassment plots targeting individuals in North America and Europe.
The joint statement:
"The United States of America, the United Kingdom, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden condemn the growing number of state threats from Iranian intelligence services in our respective territories.
"We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty. These services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organizations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and current and former officials in Europe and North America. This is unacceptable.
"We consider these types of attacks, regardless of the target, as violations of our sovereignty. We are committed to working together to prevent these actions from happening, and we call on the Iranian authorities to immediately put an end to such illegal activities in our respective territories."
Readers are reminded that in late June, AlertsUSA subscribers were notified of a security alert issued by the US Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, warning that Iran may be pressuring local criminal gangs to carry out attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests in the country. Such proxies, often comprised of criminal networks, cyber operatives, and local recruits, enable Iran to conduct assassination, kidnapping, and harassment operations while maintaining plausible deniability. The strategy targets dissidents, journalists, Jewish communities, and officials to suppress opposition and project power. As seen with this embassy alert, they now also target U.S. interests.
POTUS Targeted
Other U.S.-related incidents involving Iranian assets or proxies include a November 2024 DOJ indictment charging Farhad Shakeri, an Iranian operative, with plotting to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump before the 2024 election. Shakeri, directed by the IRGC, admitted in FBI interviews in September 2024 to being tasked with surveilling and killing Trump.
Bolton and Pompeo
In 2022, the Justice Department charged another IRGC member with plotting to kill former National Security Adviser John Bolton, as well as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (see this and this). The FBI has thwarted other Iranian-backed assassination attempts since 2020, with Iran maintaining a “long-standing commitment” to target U.S. officials linked to the death of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has dismissed the allegations in the joint statement as "blatant fabrications and a diversionary tactic, part of a malicious campaign of Iranophobia aimed at pressuring the Iranian people."
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