In a chilling exposé, the French weekly Nouvel Obs has revealed fresh details about a series of coordinated attacks on Iranian dissident centers in France—orchestrated by Tehran through hired criminal networks. The report highlights a troubling trend: the Iranian regime increasingly outsourcing politically motivated operations to low-level criminals with no overt ideological ties to the regime.
Six Suspects to Stand Trial Over 2023 Attack
Six individuals have recently been referred to the criminal court in Pontoise (Val-d’Oise) for an arson-style attack on an Iranian opposition center in 2023. The case, according to Nouvel Obs, sheds light on how Tehran operates beyond its borders—by subcontracting repression and intimidation to criminal gangs.
The attack took place on the early morning of Wednesday, May 31, 2023, in the industrial area of Vert Galant in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, near Paris. CCTV footage and police reports show that two men dressed in black arrived in a ride-hailing car paid with one of their real accounts—hardly a discreet method for committing a crime.
Once dropped off, the assailants climbed over a gate after passing a Molotov cocktail and a handgun through the bars. One fired six bullets into the building front while the other recorded the assault with a mobile phone. Then, they attempted to ignite the Molotov, which barely caught fire, and hurled it at the roof before fleeing the scene. A person inside the building reacted quickly and gave chase in his vehicle.
NCRI Statement: Attack on NCRI Representation Office in #Berlin by the Mullahs’ Regime’s #Terrorists and Mercenarieshttps://t.co/crICLhmcDK
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 4, 2023
Three Attacks in Two Weeks
Although the damage was limited, the incident sparked serious concern because the target was the headquarters of “Simay Azadi”, an Iranian opposition media group affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
This was not an isolated incident. On June 11 and 13, 2023, the same offices were attacked twice more. In one of the follow-up incidents, two masked men approached the building in the middle of the night with car lights off. As they exited the vehicle, security guards—now stationed on-site full-time—shouted, “What are you doing?” The attackers abandoned a gasoline container and sped off, nearly hitting one of the guards. Only part of their license plate was recorded.
All the suspects are considered small-time offenders with no apparent political motivation. However, the fingerprints of the Iranian regime are unmistakable. The modus operandi resembles tactics used by Iranian intelligence services, as identified by multiple European governments in recent years.
Iran Regime Terrorists, Operatives Attack MEK Supporters’ Office in London With Fire Bomb #IranRevolution2022 #IranProtests2022
#آزادی_آزادی_آزادی #IranRevolution #Iranhttps://t.co/5D6yx0ijgv— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 5, 2022
A Broader Pattern of State-Sponsored Violence
The attack echoes previous plots involving Iranian state actors. In 2018, Iranian agents planned to bomb the Free Iran rally of NCRI in Villepinte, near Paris. That plot led to the arrest and conviction of an Iranian diplomat based in Vienna and three co-conspirators with Belgian passports.
The NCRI had announced a major anti-regime rally in Paris for July 1, 2023, alongside a high-level conference expected to feature former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss. The spike in attacks occurred shortly before these planned events.
These incidents unfolded as the Iranian regime was intensifying crackdowns both at home and abroad. Just months earlier, Tehran had brutally repressed nationwide protests, while also escalating pressure on diaspora communities. By late 2022, the NCRI’s London office had also been targeted with a Molotov cocktail.
NCRI Statement: Molotov Attack on @Mojahedineng Supporters’ Building in Sweden by #Iranian Regime Agentshttps://t.co/gX5lntxHmY
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 9, 2024
Cross-Border Connections and a Shared Network
European security services have begun connecting the dots between these incidents. Dutch intelligence services concluded in April 2024 that the Iranian regime had “likely” ordered two foiled assassination attempts—one against an Iranian dissident in the Netherlands and another against Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former European Parliament member and prominent supporter of the Iranian opposition.
Vidal-Quadras survived a November 2023 shooting by gunmen on motorcycles in Madrid. According to investigators, the same criminal network was involved in both the Madrid attack and the incidents in France. The main suspect and his brother—two French-Tunisian nationals with criminal records—have been arrested. Intriguingly, they hail from the Val-de-Marne district, the same area as several of the perpetrators in the attacks on the Simay Azadi offices.
State Terror by Proxy
This case exemplifies a disturbing new strategy: state terror by proxy. Instead of relying on agents with diplomatic cover or ideological loyalties, Iran is increasingly turning to criminals for hire—outsourcing politically motivated violence in ways that provide plausible deniability.
In its latest report, Europol warned of growing collaboration between state actors—especially Iran—and organized crime networks to destabilize Europe and target exiled opposition figures.
As the six suspects prepare to stand trial in September 2025, the spotlight is once again on Tehran’s covert campaign of intimidation—one that stretches far beyond its borders, reaching into the heart of Europe through the shadows of the underworld.