Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in the Nordrhein-Westfalen province in Germany, in its 2017 report released in July 2018, emphasized on the focus of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) against the opposition, particularly the MEK

The Iranian regime has stepped up its activities against the MEK in response to its foiled terrorist attack on the annual Grand Gathering of the Iranian Resistance on June 30th in Paris. The MEK has long been a target of the regime, as revealed in the 2017 report released this week by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in the Nordrhein-Westfalen province in Germany, which focused on the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and its work against the MEK and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The report included the regime’s attempts to infiltrate the opposition movement in Germany and added that the Quds Force is active in Germany.

According to the report, “The official headquarters of the Iranian Regime’s Ministry of Intelligence at its embassy in Berlin had an important role in reconnaissance activities of the secret service.”

The terrorist Quds Force is a special unit of the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). It independently collects intelligence abroad and engages in security and counter-espionage efforts.

The BfV report specifies that the regime’s activities in the Nordrhein-Westfalen province and across Germany are primarily conducted by the MOIS and are focused on spying on the opposition, specifically the MEK and the NCRI. According to the report, the MOIS uses infiltration to spy on the opposition and then attempts to discredit them through the use of propaganda. The report added that the MOIS also uses conventional spying in political, military, economic and scientific fields.

This report is cause for concern for European citizens as well as Iranian refugees. The most recent attempt at a terrorist attack by the Iranian regime was aimed at the MEK and NCRI but was set to take place among a large group of people in Paris. This planned attack was similar in scope to ISIS, with the critical difference that this act of terror was planned and implemented by the Iranian regime’s own diplomats and officials in Europe.

The closure of the regime’s agencies in Europe, the expulsion of its diplomats, its agents,  and the mercenaries of the MOIS and the Quds Force is urgent and necessary to protect the security of Europe and the Iranian refugees living there.

The situation is dire, but the response from the European External Action Service (EEAS) has been silence. The tendency to appease the mullahs and preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is strong, but it leaves Europe vulnerable to other attacks by the regime.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former vice-president of the European Parliament and current president of the Brussels-based International Committee In Search of Justice (ISJ), wrote this about the European Union’s tendency toward appeasement: “The EU’s eagerness to further unconditional engagements with Iran seems to have only made Europe more vulnerable to state-sponsored terrorism, as Iran has used its ease of access to the European Union countries for espionage and terror plots that jeopardize the lives of European citizens. The EU needs to wake up. We should follow up with the brave actions of our intelligence and police services with firm and decisive political action. We could respond by downgrading our diplomatic relations and expelling agents that are linked to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry in order to prevent more terrorist attacks on European soil.”

Staff Writer