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The United States and 13 other countries have issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s intelligence services for orchestrating a growing number of assassination plots, kidnappings, and harassment campaigns targeting individuals across Europe and North America.
Some shit you should know before you read: For years, the United States has warned of a persistent pattern of Iranian plots targeting current and former US officials, with particular concern over threats aimed at individuals who served in Trump’s first administration. Among the most prominent cases is that of former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who was reportedly the target of an Iranian assassination plot in retaliation for the 2020 US airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also identified as a target, prompting the US government to provide him with a taxpayer-funded security detail throughout President Biden’s entire administration, despite not holding office under his leadership. US intelligence and law enforcement agencies have also flagged reported Iranian efforts to assassinate President Donald Trump himself.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, the United States, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement condemning what they describe as a surge in malign activities by Iranian intelligence services across Europe and North America. The 14 governments accused Iran of orchestrating a growing number of plots to “kill, kidnap, and harass” individuals residing within their borders, calling these actions “clear violations of our sovereignty.” The statement further alleged that Iranian operatives are increasingly working with international criminal organizations to carry out these missions, targeting journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and both current and former officials.
“These services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organizations,” the governments said, warning that such operations are not isolated incidents but part of a broader campaign of state-sponsored intimidation and violence. The joint statement emphasized that any attack, regardless of the target, “will be considered a violation of our sovereignty” and vowed collective action to detect and disrupt such plots in the future.
Though the statement did not specify particular cases, multiple signatory countries have linked recent arrests and security threats to Iranian state actors. These include foiled assassination attempts, the use of criminal intermediaries for surveillance and intimidation, and efforts to silence opposition voices abroad. The countries called on Iran to “immediately put an end to such illegal activities in our respective territories.”
Iran has categorically denied the allegations, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissing them as “baseless” and politically motivated.
