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ABSTRACT
Iran’s support for terrorist groups is the subject of countless articles and monographs. Less emphasis is placed on Tehran’s efforts to fight terrorist groups targeting the Iranian state. Yet, modern domestic and foreign terrorist groups have targeted Iran for decades. As a result, the country has developed fairly sophisticated, albeit opaque, counterterrorism apparatus and mechanisms. This article sheds light on the Iranian counterterrorism apparatus and efforts since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, drawing on several years of fieldwork in Iran, interviews with current and former officials, and Persian sources.
KEYWORDS:
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Bruce Hoffman, ‘Recent Trends and Future Prospects of Iranian Sponsored International Terrorism,’ RAND Corporation, March 1990, http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reports/2005/R3783.pdf; Daniel Byman, Deadly Connections – States that Sponsor Terrorism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2005), 21–117; Edgar O’ballance, Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism, 1979–95 – The Iranian Connection (London: MacMillan Press LTD 1997); Gawdat Bahgat, ‘Iran and Terrorism: The Transatlantic Responses,’ Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 22/2 (1999) 141–152.
2 Afshon Ostovar, Vanguard of the Imam (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2016), 15.
3 Carl Anthony Wege, ‘Iranian Intelligence Organizations,’ Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 10/3, 287–298, 287.
4 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor, 20 June 2010, https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/special-series-iranian-intelligence-and-regime-preservation.
5 Ali Hashem, ‘Iran’s New Challenge: The Islamic State in Persia?’ Al-Monitor, 24 October 2016, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/iran-islamic-state-leader-abu-aisha-kurdi-killed-alavi.html.
6 ‘Iran: Mass Execution on Terrorism Charges,’ Human Rights Watch, 8 August 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/08/iran-mass-execution-terrorism-charges.
7 ‘International Congress on 17,000 Iranian Terrorist Victims,’ 17,000.ir, 5 April 2015, http://17000.ir/en/first-congress-of-17000-terror-victims/statement.html.
8 ibid.
9 ‘U.S. Terrorism Report: MEK and Jundallah,’ Iran Primer, 23 August 2011, http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2011/aug/23/us-terrorism-report-mek-and-jundallah
10 ibid.
11 Ervand Abrahamian, The Iranian Mojahedin (New Haven: Yale University Press 1989), 103; ‘No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin-e Khalq Camps,’ Human Rights Watch, 18 May 2005, http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=45d085002.
12 Peyman Vahabzadeh, ‘FadāʾIān-e Ḵalq,’ Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2015, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fadaian-e-khalq.
13 ‘No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin-e Khalq Camps,’ Human Rights Watch.
14 ibid.
15 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, December 2012, https://fas.org/irp/world/iran/mois-loc.pdf, 35.
16 Jeffrey Lewis, ‘That Secret Iranian “Nuclear Facility” You Just found? Not So Much.’ Foreign Policy, 3 March 2015, http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/03/that-secret-iranian-nuclear-facility-you-just-found-not-so-much/
17 ‘Israel’s Mossad Trained Assassins of Iran’s Nuclear Scientists, Report Says,’ Haaretz, 9 February 2012, http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-s-mossad-trained-assassins-of-iran-nuclear-scientists-report-says-1.411945
18 ‘No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin-e Khalq Camps,’ Human Rights Watch; Jeremiah Goulka, ‘The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq’ (Santa Monica: Rand Corporation 2009), 4.
19 While the border region of Azerbaijan, also home to a large minority, is developed, others, like Kurdistan and Sistan-Baluchestan remain fairly poor.
20 Khaled Sheykholeslami and Ariane Tabatabai, ‘Do Homework Before Supporting Groups in ISIS Fight,’ The Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 25 August 2014, http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/publication/24507/do_homework_before_supporting_groups_in_isis_fight.html?breadcrumb=%2Fexperts%2F3077%2Femile_simpson.
21 James Brandon, ‘Iran’s Kurdish Threat: PJAK,’ Terrorism Monitor 4/12, The Jamestown Foundation, http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=805&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=181&no_cache=1#.V-aKK2VlnBI.
22 Nazila Fathi, ‘Iran Executes Sunni Rebel Leader,’ The New York Times, 20 June 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html?_r=0.
23 ibid., 7–9.
24 Daniel Byman, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement – What Everyone Needs to Know, 10–11.
25 Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, 18–19.
26 Author interview with Iranian official, email, 22 August 2016.
27 ibid.
28 ibid.
29 James Dobbins, ‘Time to Deal With Iran,’ The RAND Blog, 6 March 2004, http://www.rand.org/blog/2004/05/time-to-deal-with-iran.html.
30 Seth Jones, ‘Al Qaeda in Iran,’ Foreign Affairs, 29 January 2012, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/2012-01-29/al-qaeda-iran.
31 Ossama bin Laden, ‘Letter to Karim,’ Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Bin Laden’s Bookshelf, 2007 (declassified 1 March 2016), https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ubl2016/arabic/Arabic%20Letter%20to%20Karim.pdf.
32 Joby Warrick, ‘Iran, al-Qaeda Relationship Is Showing Cracks, U.S. Officials and Analysts Say,’ The Washington Post, 13 March 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iran-al-qaeda-relationship-is-showing-cracks-us-officials-and-analysts-say/2013/03/12/f1fdace2-8b39-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_story.html.
33 Daniel Byman, ‘Unlikely Alliance – Iran’s Secretive Relationship with Al-Qaeda,’ IHS Defense, Risk and Security Consulting, July 2012, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/iran-al-qaeda-byman.pdf, 26–33, 27.
34 Warrick, ‘Iran, al-Qaeda Relationship Is Showing Cracks, U.S. Officials and Analysts Say.’
35 Byman, ‘Unlikely Alliance – Iran’s Secretive Relationship with Al-Qaeda,’ 29.
36 ‘Hoshdar-e Jeddi-e Vazir-e Ettelaat,’ Shargh Daily, 16 November 2015, http://sharghdaily.ir/News/78780/هشدار-جدي-وزير-اطلاعات–.
37 Ali Hashem, ‘Iran’s New Challenge: The Islamic State in Persia?’ Al-Monitor, 24 October 2016.
38 Author interviews in Iran, June 2014.
39 Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai, ‘Iran’s ISIS Policy,’ International Affairs 91/1 (2015), 9–10.
40 Tim Lister, ‘One ISIS Attack Every 84 Hours Spurs Dread and Anger in Europe,’ CNN, 31 July 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/31/europe/isis-attacks-escalating-europe/; Sarah Almukhtar, Tim Wallave, and Derek Watkins, ‘ISIS Has Lost Many of the Key Places It Once Controlled,’ The New York Times, 3 July 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/18/world/middleeast/isis-control-places-cities.html?_r=0.
41 Author interview with Iranian official, email, 2 May 2016.
42 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
43 Wege, ‘Iranian Intelligence Organizations,’ 290.
44 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 8.
45 ibid., 8.
46 ibid., 7.
47 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
48 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 3–4,10.
49 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
50 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 3–4.
51 Carl Anthony Wege, ‘Iran’s Intelligence Establishment,’ Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies, 21/2 (Spring/Summer 2015), 63–67, 65.
52 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 9.
53 ibid., 20.
54 ibid., 23.
55 Frederic Wehrey, et al, ‘The Rise of the Pasdaran,’ (Santa Monica: Rand Corporation 2009),10.
56 ibid.
57 ibid.
58 ibid.
59 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 15.
60 M. J. Sheikh-ol-Islami, ‘Army v. Pahlavi Period,’ Encyclopædia Iranica 2/5 (date), 508–514.
61 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
62 Steven R. Ward, Immortal – A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press 2009), 2.
63 Wehrey, et al., ‘The Rise of the Pasdaran,’ 55–70.
64 Michael Connell, ‘Iran’s Military Doctrine,’ The Iran Primer, http://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/irans-military-doctrine.
65 ibid.
66 Anthony Cordesman and Martin Kleiber, Iran’s Military Forces and Warfighting Capabilities: The Threat in the Northern Gulf (Westport: Praeger Security International 2007), 75.
67 ibid., 15–17,124.
68 Ostovar, Vanguard of the Imam, 15.
69 ‘Fact Sheet: Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism,’ US Department of Treasury, 25 October 2007, https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp644.aspx.
70 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 13.
71 ibid.
72 Wege, ‘Iran’s Intelligence Establishment,’ 65.
73 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
74 ibid.
75 ibid.
76 Author interviews in Iran, 2009/2014. Author interviews with Gulf Cooperation Council officials, academics, and experts, Doha, Muscat, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, May/November 2016.
77 Wehrey, et al., ‘The Rise of the Pasdaran,’ 9.
78 Wege, ‘Iran’s Intelligence Establishment,’ 63.
79 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
80 ibid.
81 Wehrey, et al, ‘The Rise of the Pasdaran,’10.
82 This budget is for the Persian calendar year 1396 (March 2017–18).
83 ‘Layehe-ye Budget-ye Sal-e 1396 Koll-e Keshvar,’ Management and Planning Organization of Iran, 95/00/102 (2016), http://iran.alef.ir/images/docs/files/000420/nf00420396-1.pdf, 42.
84 ‘Iran’s Parliament Boosts Armed Forces’ Budget to Counter Terrorism: Speaker,’ The Iran Project, 10 May 2016, http://theiranproject.com/blog/2016/05/10/irans-parliament-boosts-armed-forces-budget-counter-terrorism-speaker/.
85 Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai, ‘A Comparative Study of US and Iranian Counter-ISIS Strategies,’ Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (August 2017).
86 Wege, ‘Iran’s Intelligence Establishment,’ 64.
87 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
88 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 32, 40.
89 Jon Leyne, ‘Iran Accuses Pakistan Over Attack,’ BBC News, 19 October 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8313625.stm; ‘Pak. Must Control Its Terror Groups,’ The Hindu, 22 April 2016, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8313625.stm.
90 ‘Turkey Cooperates With Iran Against PKK,’ Hürriyet Dailey, 5 June 2008, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/turkey-cooperates-with-iran-against-pkk-9105127.
91 Matt Brown, ‘Islamic State: Julie Bishop brokers intelligence sharing deal with Iran on Australians fighting in Iraq,’ ABC News Australia, 19 April 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015–04–20/julie-bishop-brokers-intelligence-sharing-deal-with-iran/6404624.
92 Ariane Tabatabai, ‘Hands Across the Lab: Will the US and Iran Cooperate on Science?’ The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 17 October 2016, http://thebulletin.org/hands-across-lab-will-us-and-iran-cooperate-science10042.
93 ibid., 33.
94 Ali Hashem, ‘Iran’s New Challenge: The Islamic State in Persia? Al-Monitor, 24 October 2016.
95 Ayatollah Montazeri, ‘File Sowti-e Didar-e Ayatollah Montazeri Dar Tarikh-e 24 Mordad 1367,’ 15 August 1988, https://amontazeri.com/audio/historical/276f6b0e854d7124d234075b20d1142c.
96 Nazila Fathi, ‘Iran Executes Sunni Rebel Leader.’
97 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
98 ‘Swiss orders arrest of Iranian ex-minister,’ Swiss Info, 9 April 2006, http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-orders-arrest-of-iranian-ex-minister/5116960.
99 Alan Cowell, ‘Berlin Court Says Top Iran Leaders Ordered Killing,’ The New York Times, 11 April 1997, http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/11/world/berlin-court-says-top-iran-leaders-ordered-killings.html.
100 Andrew R. Morral and Brian A. Jackson, ‘Understanding the Role of Deterrence in Counterterrorism Security,’ Rand Corporation, 2009, http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/occasional_papers/2009/RAND_OP281.pdf.
101 Daniel Byman, ‘Do Targeted Killings Work?’ Foreign Affairs 2 (March/April 2006), 95.
102 ‘Iran: Mass Execution on Terrorism Charges,’ Human Rights Watch; ‘Iran: Halt Execution of 33 Sunnis,’ Human Rights Watch, 12 June 2014, https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/12/iran-halt-execution-33-sunnis; ‘Locked Up in Karaj,’ Human Rights Watch, August 2014, https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/08/18/locked-karaj/spotlight-political-prisoners-one-iranian-city
103 Ali Hashem, ‘Iran’s New Challenge: The Islamic State in Persia?’ Al-Monitor, 24 October 2016.
104 Author interviews with Iranian officials, Tehran, Berlin, Vienna, Lausanne, and Geneva, 2014–16; Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai, ‘Iran’s ISIS Policy,’ 5,10; Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai, ‘Yemen: An Opportunity for Iran-Saudi Dialogue?’ The Washington Quarterly 39/2 (Summer 2016), 155–174, 161; Alireza Nader, ‘Iran’s Role in Iraq: Room for Cooperation?’ Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation 2015, http://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE151.html.
105 Ali Hashem, ‘Iranian military official: We will “uproot” Jabhat al-Nusra,’ Al-Monitor, 15 August 2016, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/iran-reaction-nusra-front-name-change-golani.html#ixzz4HiVW4o9I.
106 ‘IRGC Fights Off Terrorist Group Northwest of Iran,’ Tasnim News, 25 June 2016, http://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2016/06/25/1114712/irgc-fights-off-terrorist-group-northwest-of-iran.
107 Daniel Byman, ‘US Counter-terrorism Options: A Taxonomy’, Survival 49/3 (Autumn 2007), 121–150, 128.
108 Audrey Kurth Cronin, ‘ISIS is Not a Terrorist Group,’ Foreign Affairs 94/2 (March/April 2015), 88.
109 ‘The Massacre in Mazar-i Sharif,’ Human Rights Watch, November 1998, Vol. 10, No. 7, https://www.hrw.org/report/1998/11/01/afghanistan-massacre-mazar-i-sharif.
110 Rukmini Callimachi and Eric Schmitt, ‘Iran Released Top Members of Al Qaeda in A Trade,’ The New York Times, 17 September 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/world/middleeast/iran-released-top-members-of-al-qaeda-in-a-trade.html.
111 ‘Hoshdar-e Jeddi-e Vazir-e Ettelaat,’ Shargh Daily.
112 Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, 199.
113 Author interview with Gulf Cooperation Council officials, Doha, Muscat, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, May/November 2016; Dina Esfandiary and Islam Al Tayeb, ‘How Iran’s Syria Policy Is Making It Lose the Regional Popularity Contest’, The Atlantic, 20 May 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/how-irans-syria-policy-is-making-it-lose-the-regional-popularity-contest/276032/.
114 Ali Khamenei, ‘Eid-e Saeed-e Ghadeer-e Khom ‘Eidollah al-Akbar Ast,’ Khamenei.ir, 12 October 2014, http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=5011; ‘Iran’s President Says Lack of Unity Root Cause of Muslims’ Problems,’ PressTV, 26 March 2016, http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/03/26/457647/Iran-Pakistan-Rouhani-intellectuals/.
115 Author interview with Iranian official, email, 2 May 2016.
116 ibid.
117 ibid.
118 ‘Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,’ The Federal Research Division of Congress, 28–29.
119 ibid. 26.
120 Author interviews, Iranian Kurdistan, June-July 2010.
121 Willem Max, ‘Double Agent,’ Tablet Magazine, 10 May 2011, http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/66964/double-agent.
122 ‘Ghavanin-e Zedde Terrorism-e Bankha-ye Iran va Swiss Moshabeh Ast,’ ILNA, 12 July 2016, http://www.ilna.ir/بخش-اقتصادی-4/389577-قوانین-ضد-تروریسم-بانک-های-ایران-سوییس-مشابه-است.
123 Ibid.
124 Daniel Byman, The Five Front War: The Better Way to Fight Global Jihad (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons 2003), 70.
125 ‘Hoshdar-e Jeddi-e Vazir-e Ettelaat,’ Shargh Daily.
126 James R. Clapper, ‘Statement for the Record – Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community – Senate Armed Services Committee,’ 9 February 2016, 25.
127 Ayatollah Khamenei, ‘Bayaniat dar Didar-e Khanevadeh-haye Shohada-ye Haftom-e Tir va Jam’ee az Khanevadeh-haye Shohada-ye Modafe’e Haram,’ Khamenei. ir, 25 June 2016, http://farsi.khamenei.ir/speech-content?id=33600.
128 ‘Special Series: Iranian Intelligence and Regime Preservation,’ Stratfor.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ariane M. Tabatabai
Ariane M. Tabatabai is a visiting assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, a senior associate in the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project, and a columnist for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Prior to Georgetown, Tabatabai was a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow (2013–2014) and an associate (2014–2015) at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She holds a PhD in War Studies from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.