...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...is hiring crime gangs to murder dissidents abroad in the United Kingdom and other Western countries, the Times reported on Sunday citing security officials.
Security personnel are reportedly aware of Iranian spies attempting to enlist the assistance of organized crime organizations in targeting those who are against the regime in the UK.
This comes after recent statements by the head of MI5 indicating that Iran attempted to kidnap or assassinate UK residents on ten separate occasions in 2022.
| A busy schedule of murder and mayhem, or attempted anyway. |
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
protests sparked by the death of a young Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody last September.
The Iranian intelligence agency is believed to be forming closer connections with criminal organizations as sanctions and increased scrutiny by security services make it more difficult for them to operate their agents and assets in Britannia and other western countries, the Times reported, adding that the use of hired "muscle" to carry out these liquidations could allow Tehran to deny involvement as it seeks to maintain diplomatic ties with the West.
Iran’s tactic of using criminals in "murder-for-hire" plots has been at the center of an American case involving an Iranian-born US journalist and women’s rights
US authorities discovered one of the suspects near the victim’s New York home with an AK-47-style rifle and charged three members of a European gang with the attempted liquidation of Alinejad. The gang member who was found near her home allegedly acted on orders from Iran through an associate in the Czech Republic.