U.S., UK, 12 others accuse Iran of assassination plots

U.S., UK, 12 others accuse Iran of assassination plots

The United States, the United Kingdom, and a coalition of 12 other Western nations have issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s intelligence services for carrying out illegal activities across American and European territories.

In the statement released on Thursday, the countries accused Iran of assassination plots, abductions, and harassment campaigns.

The U.S. Department of State, the UK government, and the governments of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden joined in denouncing Iran’s overseas operations.

“We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty,” the statement read.

The signatories accused Iran’s security apparatus of working with international criminal networks to target a wide range of individuals, including journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and current and former officials—a strategy they said amounts to state-sponsored terror abroad.

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“These services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organisations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and current and former officials in Europe and North America. This is unacceptable,” the coalition stated.

“We consider these types of attacks, regardless of the target, as violations of our sovereignty. We are committed to working together to prevent these actions from happening,” the statement added.

The joint declaration marks one of the most unified and expansive condemnations of Iranian intelligence activities on Western soil to date.

It also comes amid renewed diplomatic friction over Iran’s nuclear programme, regional proxy engagements, and reported cyber operations targeting Western infrastructure.

The 14 governments called on Iran to “immediately put an end to such illegal activities in our respective territories”, which they say pose direct threats to democratic values, the rule of law, and international norms.

 

U.S., UK, 12 others accuse Iran of assassination plots