To Punish Dissidents Abroad, Iran Switches from Assassination to Lawfare

July 17 2020

In February, four members of a Europe-based organization that advocates for the rights of the Arab minority in southwestern Iran were arrested in Denmark, accused of terrorism and spying for Saudi Arabia. One of them faces similar charges in the Netherlands as well. To Irina Tsukerman, these appear to be trumped-up allegations against genuine human-rights activists:

Both Denmark and the Netherlands have engaged in lucrative business dealings with Iran and were strong supporters of the [2015 nuclear deal] and opponents of the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement. Both states have built pharmaceutical factories and plants in Iran; in Denmark’s case, an insulin-factory agreement was concluded one day before the arrests of the activists. Both Denmark and the Netherlands [also] pride themselves on their human-rights records, yet they make it exceptionally difficult for refugees and other immigrants to obtain citizenship. This means that three of the four . . . face possible deportation to Iran in the event of their conviction.

Furthermore, [in the summer of 2018], these very same people were dealing with security concerns of their own. Three [of the] Denmark-based activists were targeted by a Norwegian-Iranian assassin who has since been charged with their attempted murders. [The fourth], meanwhile, was being spied on by an Iranian agent from Sweden. . . . This was not Iran’s first attempt to assassinate dissidents; nor will it be the last. The regime targeted opposition groups all over Europe in 2018 and succeeded in assassinating another [Iranian-Arab] activist in the Netherlands in 2017.

Why did Iran switch gears and decide to go through legal and political channels to bring down its adversaries rather than hunting them down? [It] realized that putting pressure on European governments would make the Islamic Republic appear clean and yield the desired results while shifting scrutiny onto its adversary, Saudi Arabia. For that reason, Iran leaned heavily on Denmark to arrest the . . . activists.

The European domestic media are all too happy to regurgitate Iranian propaganda talking points without delving into how and why Iran has so much sway over their countries’ political and law-enforcement priorities.

Read more at BESA Center

More about: Denmark, Europe, Iran, Netherlands, Terrorism

Expand Gaza into Sinai

Feb. 11 2025

Calling the proposal to depopulate Gaza completely (if temporarily) “unworkable,” Peter Berkowitz makes the case for a similar, but more feasible, plan:

The United States along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should persuade Egypt by means of generous financial inducements to open the sparsely populated ten-to-fifteen miles of Sinai adjacent to Gaza to Palestinians seeking a fresh start and better life. Egypt would not absorb Gazans and make them citizens but rather move Gaza’s border . . . westward into Sinai. Fences would be erected along the new border. The Israel Defense Force would maintain border security on the Gaza-extension side, Egyptian forces on the other. Egypt might lease the land to the Palestinians for 75 years.

The Sinai option does not involve forced transfer of civilian populations, which the international laws of war bar. As the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other partners build temporary dwellings and then apartment buildings and towns, they would provide bus service to the Gaza-extension. Palestinian families that choose to make the short trip would receive a key to a new residence and, say, $10,000.

The Sinai option is flawed. . . . Then again, all conventional options for rehabilitating and governing Gaza are terrible.

Read more at RealClear Politics

More about: Donald Trump, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula