Western allies accuse Iran of overseas plots to kidnap and kill people
The joint statement was issued by Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.
"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 countries said in a joint statement.
"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 statement called on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop such illegal activities.
Since early 2022, Britain says it has disrupted more than 20 Iran-linked plots to kidnap or kill individuals in the UK, including British nationals and others Tehran views as threats.
Dutch intelligence meanwhile accused Tehran of staging a 2024 assassination attempt on an Iranian living in that country. The plot was thwarted when police intervened and arrested two suspects.
One of the two people detained was also suspected of involvement in attempting to kill Spanish right-wing politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a supporter of the Iranian opposition who was shot in Madrid the same year.
And the US Justice Department announced the indictment in 2023 of three members of a European criminal gang who allegedly undertook a Tehran-backed plot to assassinate a dissident Iranian-American journalist.
In November last year, US authorities also charged a man over an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate then-US-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Reuters/AFP
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