Western intelligence agencies have reported a surge in Iranian regime-led plots to abduct or assassinate dissidents and political opponents residing overseas, with a notable escalation in such activities since 2022, according to a BBC investigation.
Among the most concerning developments, US President Donald Trump was reportedly a target of one such foiled plot. In the UK, counter-terrorism officials recently arrested several Iranian nationals suspected of planning an attack, with sources indicating that the Israeli embassy in London was the intended target.
Court records from the US and Turkey, reviewed by BBC Eye Investigations and BBC Persian, suggest Iran has increasingly turned to criminal networks to carry out overseas operations. These documents repeatedly name Naji Sharifi Zindashti, an Iranian figure with a long history in organized crime, as a key operative.
Zindashti, believed to have fled to Iran after a controversial release from Turkish custody, has been implicated in multiple international incidents, including the 2017 killing of TV executive Saeed Karimian in Istanbul and the 2019 assassination of IRGC defector Massoud Molavi. Turkish investigators discovered individuals linked to Zindashti at both crime scenes.
In subsequent years, Zindashti has been linked to additional plots, including the 2020 kidnapping of Iranian dissident Habib Chaab and a 2021 plan to assassinate defectors in Maryland, thwarted by the FBI. In the latter case, communications revealed an alleged $370,000 contract offered to members of a Canadian biker gang.
The BBC investigation further found that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly its Quds Force Unit 840, has been coordinating with global criminal syndicates such as the Thieves-in-Law. These groups have allegedly been contracted for attacks on Iranian dissidents, including prominent activist Masih Alinejad.
In the UK, authorities have responded to a marked rise in threats with increased security measures. MI5 Chief Ken McCallum noted 20 credible Iranian-linked threats in the past year. One such case involved a foiled bomb attempt against journalist Sima Sabet of Iran International, while another journalist, Pouria Zerati, survived a knife attack in London.
Officials in both the US and UK have imposed sanctions on individuals tied to Iran's global intelligence operations. Despite repeated denials from Iranian officials and Zindashti himself, intelligence sources suggest a pattern of Tehran outsourcing operations to obscure state involvement.
The pattern echoes a notorious 1992 assassination in Berlin, when four Kurdish leaders were killed in an operation attributed to Iranian agents and Hezbollah operatives. German prosecutors at the time held Iran's top leadership accountable.
As the Iranian regime continues its covert activities abroad, Western intelligence agencies remain vigilant, aiming to disrupt what UK counter-terrorism chief Matt Jukes described as a "creeping penetration" by Iran through non-ideological criminal intermediaries.
