Iran's Clandestine War: Assassination Plots Against Dissidents Abroad

Targeted Attacks on Critics Abroad

• 🎯 Iran has a long history of carrying out targeted attacks against critics of the regime living abroad, with journalists and dissidents increasingly becoming targets.
• 🌐 The regime is waging a clandestine conflict, using criminal proxies and international criminal networks to carry out these operations.

Key Figure: Naji Zindashti

• 🔍 Naji Sharifi Zindashti, a notorious drug trafficker, is identified as a prime suspect in multiple plots against Iranian dissidents in Turkey and beyond.
• 🤝 Zindashti is alleged to be an asset of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, coordinating with organized criminal groups for lethal plots and abductions.
• 💰 Evidence suggests Zindashti communicated with criminal groups, agreeing on substantial sums for assassinations and demanding extreme violence, such as "overkill" and "erase his head from his torso."

Notable Cases and Operations

• 🇹🇷 In Istanbul, Zindashti is linked to the assassinations of Sed Karimun (2017) and Masud Mulvi Verdenjani (2019), and the abduction of Habib Chab (2020).
• 🇺🇸 A plot targeting two Maryland residents, one a defector from Iran, involved Iranian nationals and Canadian citizens, with the IRGC and Quds Force implicated.
• 🇬🇧 The UK's MI5 has reported 20 credible plots against Iranian nationals, highlighting the regime's reach and the use of criminal networks for "dirty work."

International Response and Sanctions

• ⚖️ Turkey has charged Iranian diplomats and individuals linked to Zindashti for their roles in these plots.
• 🌍 In January 2024, the UK government sanctioned Zindashti, members of his gang, Iranian diplomats, and Unit 840 of the IRGC.
• ⚠️ Intelligence services in the US and abroad report an acceleration of lethal operations against regime critics, with Zindashti remaining a wanted man.