Iranian external operations

Iranian external operations refer to the activities conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran in foreign countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. These are primarily carried out by Unit 840 of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), supported by the Ministry of Intelligence, and affiliated proxy networks. They employ military, intelligence, diplomatic, cyber, and proxy methods to advance Iran's foreign policy objectives, including surveillance, harassment, targeting of dissidents, and critics of the Iranian regime. These operations have a global reach, with a particular focus on the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, North America, Latin America and Europe.

In 2025, 14 Western governments issued a joint statement publicly accusing Iran of orchestrating a wave of assassination attempts, abductions, and intimidation campaigns against individuals living in Europe and North America. Iranian officials have denied conducting such operations, dismissing such allegations as "baseless".