Recent investigations by major European media outlets have uncovered compelling evidence that Iranian intelligence services are expanding a covert campaign of intimidation, surveillance, and coercion targeting Iranian dissidents living across Europe, with Germany emerging as a central focus. The findings suggest a systematic effort by Tehran to silence opposition voices abroad by exerting pressure that reaches far beyond Iran’s borders.
At the center of the investigation is the case of Javid Navari, a 48-year-old teacher from Shiraz who fled Iran with his mother and brother and sought asylum in Germany. Shortly after his arrival, Navari reportedly received messages via WhatsApp from an individual using the alias “Mahdi,” calling from an Iranian phone number. The messages made clear that Iranian intelligence had already contacted Navari’s relatives inside Iran, signaling that his family’s safety could be used as leverage against him.
According to the reporting, Navari’s experience is far from unique. Iranian intelligence agencies are accused of routinely threatening dissidents by targeting their family members at home—confiscating phones, summoning relatives for interrogations, or subjecting them to ongoing harassment. Those coerced into cooperation are reportedly labeled internally as “disposable agents.” In the most severe cases, intimidation escalates to explicit threats, including threats of sexual violence, underscoring the brutality of the methods allegedly employed.
Victims are instructed to attend opposition rallies and meetings in Europe, identify participants, collect personal information, and report on internal activities. At the same time, they are warned that disclosing these contacts to European authorities could jeopardize their asylum claims. Cooperation, they are told, ensures protection for their families; refusal risks retaliation or false allegations that could undermine their refugee status.
Javad Dabiran, a spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said the group documented at least 97 such cases in 2025 alone, describing the scale of activity as unprecedented. The NCRI, a coalition of Iranian opposition movements, has become a prime target due to its public demonstrations and international advocacy.
German security services have broadly confirmed the threat. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has warned of a sustained rise in Iranian espionage activity, noting that Tehran pursues its objectives with determination and methods that may amount to state-sponsored terrorism.
The investigation also draws parallels with earlier incidents elsewhere in Europe. In 2018, Albanian authorities disrupted an alleged Iranian-linked plot against members of the (PMOI). Operatives were reportedly connected to the Nejat Society, which critics describe as a front organization tied to Iran’s intelligence services.
These overseas operations coincide with an intensified crackdown inside Iran itself. According to the investigation, more than 1,000 executions were carried out in the first nine months of 2025—the highest figure since the 1990s. Participation in opposition activities abroad has increasingly been treated by Iranian courts as espionage or blasphemy, charges that can carry the death penalty.
The findings raise urgent questions for European governments about the protection of political refugees, the integrity of democratic space, and how to respond to what critics describe as a coordinated campaign of transnational repression by the Iranian state.