In recent years, the scale of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism across Europe and beyond has reached alarming levels. The UK, too, has not been spared. Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police arrested eight Iranian nationals in two significant counter-terrorism operations. Five were arrested for plotting to attack a “specific premises”, while the other three were detained under the National Security Act for activities linked to a “foreign power threat”, widely believed to be Iran.
While I was writing this article on Friday afternoon, BBC news announced the arrest of another Iranian suspect in London for the alleged foiled terror plot against the Israeli embassy in London.
Iranian State terrorism
Iran’s dictatorship has a long history of carrying out terrorist attacks primarily targeting its dissidents, particularly members of the principal opposition organisation, the MEK (the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). These actions represent a long-standing strategy employed by the current regime to silence dissent and eliminate the strongest threats to its existence.
In July 2018, European authorities arrested Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat based in Vienna, for planning a terrorist attack on the Free Iran World Summit in Villepinte, France. This shocking incident drew international attention.
The summit hosted tens of thousands of Iranian dissidents and hundreds of international dignitaries. Assadi personally transported explosives via a diplomatic pouch and handed them to operatives in Luxembourg. He was convicted in a Belgian court in 2021, marking the first time a sitting Iranian diplomat had been imprisoned for terrorism in Europe.
Documents seized from Assadi revealed he was managing an extensive network of regime agents throughout Europe. The so-called “green notebook” found in his possession contained data on dozens of operatives, locations, and financial transactions. Yet, despite the scale of the threat exposed, most of these assets remain untouched by European authorities.
Iranian-linked institutions in Europe
Meanwhile, Iranian-linked institutions within Europe have come under increasing scrutiny. In November 2023, German security services raided the Islamic Centre of Hamburg (IZH), long suspected of acting as a proxy for Tehran’s intelligence operations. The centre was linked to Assadi’s network and is reportedly under the direct influence of the Supreme Leader’s office in Tehran. German intelligence reports dating back over a decade have repeatedly warned that IZH is a hub for ideological indoctrination, espionage, and recruitment for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
MI5’s disclosure in 2023 that it had disrupted at least 20 Iran-linked plots since 2022 suggesting a systemic policy of extraterritorial repression rooted in the Iranian regime’s core ideology.
Key figures in the MEK were assassinated abroad in the 1990s
Hossein Abedini, the deputy director of the UK office of the NCRI, is one of the few survivors of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism. There have been several attempts on his life. He was severely wounded during an assassination attempt in Istanbul in 1990 and had to undergo almost two dozen operations for gunshot wounds to his liver and stomach.
On 12 March 2025, he testified before the Joint Human Rights Committee of the UK parliament, warning of the growing risk of Iranian agents orchestrating attacks on British soil, and stated:
“Terrorism is institutionalised in the mullahs’ regime. It is part of its DNA, with decisions made at the highest levels. As the ruling theocracy has grown weaker inside Iran, the mullahs have increasingly turned to terrorism and the pursuit of nuclear weapons for their survival. As the NCRI has repeatedly warned, the regime’s terrorism – unrestricted by geography – is now more dangerous than ever. It has reached Europe and the United Kingdom, posing a serious threat to the security of UK citizens.
“Unfortunately, years of appeasement by Western governments have only emboldened this regime. The time has come for decisive action. Setting aside all political and diplomatic considerations, the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence must be immediately designated as terrorist organisations, and the Iranian people’s right to resistance and regime change must be recognised.”
National Council of Resistance of Iran
Unlike fractured opposition groups or diaspora activists, the NCRI is a structured, organised, and ideologically consistent movement with a track record of resistance and a detailed plan for democratic transition.
Its leadership, particularly Maryam Rajavi, has articulated a 10-point plan for a secular, democratic Iran that includes gender equality, freedom of expression, abolition of the death penalty, and a non-nuclear Iran.
This ideological and organisational coherence terrifies the regime.
The regime in Tehran perceives silence and inaction as green lights for further aggression. Last year’s conflicts in the Middle East proved that the Iranian regime is the main obstacle for peace in the region. Warmongering, and terrorism have been part of this regime’s strategy for survival. Therefore as Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, has said time and again:
“This regime will never abandon its repression, its export of war and terrorism, or its nuclear program. The key to the Iranian problem lies in the hands of the people of Iran and the Iranian resistance. The mullahs’ terrorism around the world can be brought to an end, but the only way to do so is to put an end to the reign of the godfather of state-sponsored terrorism. Indeed, with an organised resistance, an uprising, and the Freedom Army of the people of Iran, it is possible – and necessary – to end the religious dictatorship that rules Iran.”
European democracies must support Iranian resistance
If European democracies wish to prevent further attacks on their soil and uphold the rule of law, they must fundamentally recalibrate their policies. The first step is recognising the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. But most crucially, the West must support the Iranian people and their organised resistance, the NCRI. This is not only a moral obligation, it is a strategic necessity, and the only realistic pathway to dismantling the machinery of repression and ending Iran’s export of terrorism.
It is time for the West to stop treating Iranian state-sponsored terrorism as isolated incidents and start treating it as a deliberate policy rooted in the regime’s survival strategy.
The Iranian resistance is not just the regime’s main target; it is also the world’s best hope for peace and security in the region and beyond.
