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In recent months, new revelations have shed light on the Iranian regime’s ever-expanding role in orchestrating terrorism across Europe, emphasizing the grave global threat it poses. A recent case that captured international attention is the one involving Abdelkrim S. and his partner Sabrina B., who were arrested and charged with plotting attacks on Jews in Germany and France. According to reports by Bild and Agence France-Presse (AFP), the couple’s plans, which included targeting Israeli-German citizens in Munich and Berlin, were directed by the Iranian regime. This attempt at violence, under the code name “Marco Polo,” signifies a disturbing resurgence of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism in Europe. Intelligence agencies such as France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) have confirmed that since 2015, Tehran has resumed its practice of targeted killings, recruiting criminals and drug lords to execute attacks against Jews and dissidents.
This chilling development underscores the long-standing warnings by the Iranian Resistance and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). For decades, the Iranian opposition has cautioned that offering appeasement and impunity to the Iranian regime’s terrorist diplomats would only embolden Tehran to escalate its malign activities. The regime has perfected its strategy of hostage-taking and terrorist plots, using its diplomats and embassies as facilitators of state-sponsored terrorism across the world. Despite these warnings, many Western nations have continued to engage in prisoner swaps with Iran, which sends a dangerous signal to the regime.
A stark example of this pattern was the recent exchange involving Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat convicted for his role in a thwarted 2018 terrorist plot aimed at an NCRI rally near Paris. Assadi, who was arrested with substantial evidence of his involvement, managed a sophisticated espionage and terrorism network in Europe. Nevertheless, despite his conviction and the grave implications of his actions, he was released in a controversial prisoner swap between Belgium and Iran. This decision sparked outrage, particularly from the NCRI, which condemned the release as a severe mistake that undermined justice and the rule of law in Europe. Assadi’s case exemplifies the regime’s four-decade-old strategy of hostage diplomacy—arresting foreign nationals on fabricated charges and using them as bargaining chips in negotiations with Western governments.
European countries must shut down the clerical regime’s embassies and the so-called cultural and religious centers, which are in reality centers to coordinate #terrorism and espionage. #ShutdownIranTerrorEmbassies #Iran pic.twitter.com/5T8c5K39gm
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) December 7, 2020
The Iranian regime’s reliance on hostage-taking as a diplomatic tool dates back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy crisis and has persisted ever since. Over the years, Tehran has held dual nationals and foreign citizens, often accusing them of espionage, to gain leverage in diplomatic or economic negotiations. The West’s failure to adopt a firm stance against these tactics has only emboldened Iran to continue its extortion.
The repercussions of appeasement are visible not only in the release of terrorists like Assadi but also in the persistence of Iranian-sponsored violence on European soil. The murder of Kurdish opposition figures in Germany’s Mykonos restaurant in 1992, the assassination of NCRI representative Kazem Rajavi in Switzerland, and the continued targeting of dissidents demonstrate the Iranian regime’s longstanding commitment to using terrorism as a tool of statecraft. In fact, following the Mykonos assassinations, several European countries took bold action, expelling Iranian diplomats and disrupting Tehran’s terror network. However, this initial resolve was short-lived, and Western nations gradually returned to normal diplomatic relations, missing a critical opportunity to curb Iran’s terror apparatus.
Today, Europe once again faces the consequences of its reluctance to confront Iran’s terrorism with decisive action. The re-emergence of state-sponsored violence in the case of Abdelkrim S. and the plots uncovered in France and Germany reflect the regime’s growing boldness. European countries have been provided with numerous opportunities to dismantle the regime’s extensive network of operatives, yet each time, political or economic interests have taken precedence over security concerns.
As the NCRI has consistently warned, the failure to hold Tehran accountable for its terrorism only paves the way for more violence. The global community must recognize that the Iranian regime is not merely a regional threat but a global menace whose terror network spans continents. If Europe and the broader international community do not act now, the cycle of terrorism and hostage-taking will continue to grow, with devastating consequences.
#Tehran's mercenaries blew off #bombs in Western capitals and embassies, killing innocent people from all ethnic and religious groups indiscriminately and everywhere. 2/9 pic.twitter.com/fPZFArFESL
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 6, 2022
