Iran is using a strategy of assassinations and renditions abroad against dissidents abroad, a case study by Freedom House published on Wednesday (February 3) has reported. The publication, Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach looks at “transnational repression” as practiced by six countries – Iran, China, Rwanda, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Its publication came the day before a court in Antwerp, Belgium, sentenced Iranian diplomat Assadolah Assadi to 20 years in prison for his role in an unsuccessful bomb plot against an opposition rally in Paris.

Freedom House said its report used cases of transnational repression from public sources, including those of the United Nations and governments, human rights reports, and reputable news outlets, to generate a global picture of how governments reach across national borders to silence dissent among their diaspora and exiles.

Freedom House is a US-based, government-funded, non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.

“The Iranian regime’s expansive definition of who constitutes a threat to the Islamic Republic contributes to the breadth and intensity of its transnational repression campaign,” the report said. “The authorities frequently label the targeted dissidents and journalists as terrorists, using the term as a blanket justification for violence and disregard for due process. The regime is notable for the broad spectrum of tactics…which collectively amount to a constant barrage of harassment, intimidation, and surveillance."

Since 2014, Iran has been linked to five assassinations or assassination attempts in three countries, with plots thwarted in at least two others, the report says. Coerced or voluntary recruitment of Iranians abroad, it concludes, is a key component of the regime’s transnational repression campaign.

The report cites an August 2020 interview with the Guardian newspaper where a US-based Iranian software engineer described being imprisoned for a week on a trip to visit family in Iran, during which he was pressured to act as an agent for Iranian intelligence. It also highlights the rendition of ethnic Arab activist Habib Asyud from Turkey in October 2020, as well as threats to kidnap New York-based activist Masih Alinejad and take her family members in Iran hostage.

Iranian authorities also run highly sophisticated spyware campaigns, the report said. “Iranians abroad receive complex spear-phishing attempts, with one example imitating an email from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and another setting up a fake event for human rights activists in Spain in order to trick them into downloading malicious software.” In January 2020, Reporters without Borders (RSF) counted 200 Iranian journalists living overseas who it said had been threatened, including 50 who had received death threats.