Iran turns to criminal gangs like Hells Angels to silence critics worldwide

Iran is expanding its tactics to silence critics by enlisting the services of criminal organizations such as the Hells Angels to prevent the security services from monitoring Iranian intelligence and security officials.

The revelations were The Washington Post reported on ThursdayOne specific case involved Pouria Zeraati, an exiled Iranian journalist who worked for Iran International, a London-based satellite news channel that broadcasts to millions in Iran, the Washington Post reported. In March 2023, Zeraati was attacked and stabbed outside his Wimbledon home by assailants who were not Iranian citizens and had no apparent ties to Iranian intelligence services.

Instead, British investigators revealed that the attackers were criminals from Eastern Europe hired by Tehran, underscoring how Iran has begun outsourcing its plans to foreign criminals to evade Western scrutiny.

“We are not dealing with the usual suspects,” said Matt Jukes, head of counter-terrorism policing in the UK. “What we have is a hostile state actor who sees the battlefield as an area without borders, and individuals in London are just as legitimate as targets in Iran.” The attack on Zeraatiwhich he survived after being stabbed four times, was a warning to critics of the Iranian government that its influence is global and its threats deadly.

According to the article, Iran has for years been one of the world’s most determined practitioners of “transnational repression,” a term used to describe the actions of governments that use violence, intimidation and surveillance against their own citizens abroad.

However, the reliance on criminal proxies, gangs, mafia organizations, and drug traffickers marks a shift in the way these missions are carried out. By outsourcing assassinations and kidnappings, the Islamic Republic protects itself from direct blame and makes it harder for Western intelligence agencies to connect the dots.

The use of criminal gangs allows Iran to carry out operations with relative ease. The attackers of Zeraati for examplepassed through security at Heathrow Airport, followed him for days and fled the country hours after the attack. Tehran’s outsourcing model included groups such as the Russian mafia network “Thieves in Law” and the Hells Angels, known for their involvement in drug trafficking and organized crime in North America and Europe, the report said.

In some cases, these mercenaries were ordered to carry out horrific acts of violence, such as a failed attack in Maryland in which members of the Hells Angels were hired to assassinate a former Iranian military officer living in the United States.

In July 2022, a gunman showed up at the Brooklyn home of Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, later identified as Khalid Mehdiyev, a member of the sprawling criminal network known as “Thieves in Law.” The organization operates under a mafia-style code of honor to which its members must adhere.

Mehdiyev was arrested after being pulled over for a traffic violation near Alinejad’s residence. When police searched his vehicle, they discovered an AK-47, 66 rounds of ammunition and a ski mask, according to a U.S. criminal complaint.

Iran’s partnership with the Hells Angels and other criminal gangs was born partly out of necessity. According to Western officials, the government’s own agents are increasingly monitored and surveilled by intelligence agencies, limiting their ability to carry out missions abroad. By turning to these criminal groups, the Islamic Republic circumvents obstacles while tapping into networks already embedded in the West.

In 2021, U.S. officials uncovered a plot in which two Hells Angels members were hired to assassinate an Iranian defector and his wife in Maryland. Their orders, which came from an Iranian heroin baron named Naji Sharifi Zindashti, included instructions to make the killing extra brutal. One hitman was told to “separate his head from his torso.” While the plot failed after the killers were caught, it shows the lengths Iran is willing to go to silence those it sees as traitors.

Zindashti, a central figure in Iran’s Outsourcing of Assassinationshas been described as a “Pablo Escobar”-type drug trafficker. His operations span continents and his criminal empire is deeply intertwined with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). He is believed to have orchestrated multiple assassinations and kidnappings on behalf of Tehran, including the 2020 kidnapping and execution of Habib Chaab, an Iranian-Swedish political activist.

According to the Washington Post, These outsourced plots have been expanded far beyond Iranian exiles. Iran has also been involved in attacks and threats against U.S. and Israeli officials, Jewish communities in Europe, and LGBTQ+ activists. In 2022, a Pakistani man with ties to Iran attempted to hire a hitman to assassinate U.S. politicians, possibly including former President Donald Trump. The U.S. Justice Department has repeatedly warned that Iran is the most dangerous state sponsor of transnational repression, carrying out lethal tactics on an unprecedented scale.

Despite Iran’s denials, Western intelligence agencies have amassed extensive evidence linking the Islamic Republic to the attacks. Iran has used violence to suppress dissent since its 1979 revolution, but the scale of the current campaign is unprecedented. “We are seeing a major escalation in deadly planning by an administration that has used this tactic from the beginning,” said Matthew Levitt, a counterterrorism expert at the Washington Institute.