According to the Daily Mail, the Islamic Republic of Iran has reportedly been hiring criminal organizations, including Hells Angels, to abduct and assassinate Iranian dissidents living in Western countries.
An exclusive report from the Washington Post revealed that Tehran has been outsourcing these operations to various criminal groups embedded in democratic nations such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The report reveals that Iranian authorities have enlisted the help of notorious gangs like the Russian "Thieves in Law," as well as violent groups from Scandinavia to South America. These criminal organizations have been tasked with carrying out Tehran's orders against Iranian critics living in exile.
Among those targeted by the Iranian regime are a former Iranian military officer hiding in Maryland, an Iranian-American journalist in Brooklyn, and a dissident in London. One recent high-profile attack involved Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, a British citizen who was stabbed four times outside his home in Wimbledon, London, on March 29.
London's Metropolitan Police believe that Tehran hired criminals from Eastern Europe to carry out the attack on Zeraati. Detectives stated that the perpetrators tracked Zeraati for days before the assault and fled on a flight just hours after the ambush. Officials suspect that the attackers may have intended for Zeraati to survive the stabbing, possibly to intimidate him while avoiding an international scandal.
The Washington Institute reports that there have been 88 assassinations, abductions, and other violent plots linked to Iran over the past five years. At least 14 of these plots involved criminal groups.
German officials have reported that Tehran recruited a fugitive Hells Angels boss, Ramin Yektaparast, to organize and carry out terror attacks against synagogues. In another instance, Iranian drug trafficker Naji Sharifi Zindashti, described as a "Pablo Escobar-type narco-trafficker," has been implicated in several operations.
One such operation involved Zindashti allegedly negotiating a $350,000 contract with two Hells Angels members in Canada to kill an Iranian defector and his wife, who were hiding under false identities in Maryland. The defector, whose name has not been disclosed, was identified as a former officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who became an informant for the CIA.
The escalating trend of Iran outsourcing attacks to criminal groups has prompted increased vigilance from Western intelligence agencies. MI5 and the Metropolitan Police have tracked over 16 plots originating from the Islamic Republic in the last two years alone.
In the United States, the Justice Department filed charges last month against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who allegedly was seeking to hire a hitman to target politicians, potentially including former president Donald Trump. Former Trump officials Mike Pompeo and John Bolton have also been reportedly targeted in plots by Tehran, possibly as retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader Qasem Soleimani.
When approached by The Washington Post, Iran denied the allegations. The Iranian mission to the United Nations issued a statement saying:
The Islamic Republic of Iran harbors neither the intent nor the plan to engage in assassination or abduction operations, whether in the West or any other country. These fabrications are concoctions of the Zionist regime, the Albania-based Mujahedin-e Khalq terrorist cult, and certain Western intelligence services—including those of the United States—to divert attention from the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime.
Despite Iran's denial, the international community remains concerned about the apparent escalation in Tehran's tactics. The use of criminal organizations to carry out state-sponsored violence on foreign soil represents a troubling development in international relations and poses significant challenges for law enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide.
Iran has reportedly enlisted criminal groups, including Hells Angels, to target dissidents abroad. The scheme involves abductions and assassinations in Western countries. Tehran denies these allegations, but investigations have uncovered numerous plots. This tactic poses new challenges for international law enforcement and raises concerns about the safety of Iranian exiles in democratic nations.
