WASHINGTON, DC, August 7, 2025 – On Thursday, August 7, 2025, the US Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US) disclosed details of the terror network of the Iranian regime and the various agencies involved in carrying out Tehran’s terror plots against Iranian dissidents and foreign nationals.
The following is a summary of key points presented during the press conference.
The Command Structure of the Iranian Regime’s Extraterritorial Terrorist Operations
- An examination of the hierarchy behind the Iranian regime’s recent terrorist plots in Western countries reveals that Ali Khamenei, as the Supreme Leader of the clerical dictatorship, stands at the apex of decision-making.
- The “Qassem Soleimani Headquarters,” under the command of the Deputy Minister of Intelligence, serves as the coordinating body for terrorist operations abroad, linking the Ministry of Intelligence with the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization and the IRGC’s Quds Force.
- The attempt on the life of Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Spain in November 2023 was carried out under the command of Seyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki, Deputy Minister of Intelligence, utilizing the network of criminal gangs known as the “Moroccan mafia.”
- The Foreign Intelligence Organization of the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS), through intelligence stations embedded in the regime’s embassies, provides information, resources, and cover for the activities of the regime’s terroristdiplomats.
- The Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of Intelligence, plays a key role in facilitating the regime’s terrorism abroad.
On Thursday, July 31, 2025, fourteen European and American countries issued a warning over the Iranian regime’s escalating terrorist interventions in their territories, signaling a surge in the regime’s terrorist threats amid the current political climate.
The clerical regime has engaged in planning and executing terrorist operations against the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) in most of these countries, including France, Germany, Albania, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Austria, and Sweden.
The Role of Ali Khamenei as the Regime’s Supreme Leader in Terrorism
As evidenced by the examination of the command structure behind the regime’s various terrorist plots, Ali Khamenei, as the Supreme Leader of the clerical dictatorship and the highest religious authority, is regarded as the final decision-maker in all of these cases of terrorism.
The appointment of the Minister of Intelligence is also made directly by Ali Khamenei himself. Part of the terrorist threats against the highest-ranking officials of Western countries have been issued through websites affiliated with Khamenei. The senior decision-makers behind the regime’s terrorism are shown in the schematic below.
Options to Carry Out Terrorist Operations
Based on the circumstances, Tehran has used three options to carry out terror plots:
- Relying entirely on the regime’s own network using Iranian agents and operatives.
- Relying on the combination of the regime’s own network as well as foreign mercenaries.
- Relying entirely on foreign mercenaries and organized criminal gangs.
As stated in the joint statement of Western countries, the regime primarily utilizes networks of criminal and organized gangs to carry out its terrorist operations, so as to avoid leaving traces of Iranian agents.
Nevertheless, in cases of particular sensitivity—such as the attempted bombing in Villepinte, Paris, in June 2018, which targeted Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and a number of prominent American and European figures—the regime not only employed its own agents solely, but also involved one of its most senior diplomats in Europe.
In many cases, such as the failed bombing of the MEK Nowruz celebration in Albania in March 2018, the operation was entirely planned by the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC’s Quds Force. The main intelligence and reconnaissance operatives present in Albania were MOIS gents, while the actual bombers were recruited from Turkish and Balkan criminal gangs.
Today, the regime’s dangerous assassinations not only target Iranian opposition members, but, at the height of its desperation, it has also begun targeting American and European political figures opposed to the regime. The Spanish police investigation into the attempted November 9, 2023 terrorist assassination of Professor Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former Vice President of the European Parliament, revealed that a criminal gang had been hired by the Iranian regime for this attack. The head of this gang, named Sami Bekal Bounouare, is currently in Iran.
Prior to that, on October 26, 2022, the Iranian regime had included a number of European officials on its blacklist, including Mr. Vidal-Quadras. Similarly, and in a separate list for North America, Tehran had blacklisted several American figures opposed to the regime, including a former Secretary of State, national Security Advisor, and NATO, CENTCOM, and other U.S. Commanders.
Most recently, several regime officials and clerics made explicit threats against the President of the United States. Senior cleric Ahmad Khatami, interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, on July 4, 2025, called for the execution of President Trump. Subsequently, on August 1, 2025, no fewer than 2,000 clerics from Qom reiterated this demand in a joint statement.
Classified Document Reveals Key MOIS Directors
A classified document that the Iranian Resistance has received from within the regime includes the names of current Intelligence Ministry officials, which is extremely opaque within Iran. Included on the list is “Seyyed Yahya Hamidi” (aka Seyyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki), who currently serves as Deputy Minister of Intelligence and head of the Counterterrorism Directorate.
Additionally, cleric Hossein Safdari, is listed as the head of the Foreign Intelligence Organization within the Ministry of Intelligence, and plays a key role in terror operations. According to the organizational chart of MOIS officials, based on the aforementioned list, the regime’s extraterritorial terrorist operations are coordinated between these two directorates.
The Deputy Minister for Counterterrorism (Hosseiny Panjaki), utilizing all the Ministry’s resources, implements terrorist operations in coordination with relevant agencies. The Foreign Intelligence Directorate (headed by Safdari), through intelligence stations embedded in the regime’s embassies, provides information, resources, and cover for the activities of the regime’s terrorist-diplomats.
Both directorates were involved in the November 9, 2023, terrorist attack in Madrid against Prof. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, former Vice President of the European Parliament and President of the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ). The operation was commanded by Hosseiny Panjaki as the head of the Counterterrorism Directorate. The macro-mafia network, linked to the IRGC Quds Force and under the control of the Foreign Intelligence Directorate, executed the attack.
In the foiled terrorist plot targeting the annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) with nearly 100,000 participants in Villepinte near Paris on June 30, 2018, both directorates again played a role. Reza Amiri Moghaddam led the Foreign Intelligence Organization, while Saeed Hashemi Moghaddam was in charge of the Counterterrorism Directorate.
Panjaki was at that time deputy to Saeed Hashemi Moghaddam and later replaced him as Deputy Minister for Intelligence in the same post. Reza Amiri Moghaddam, who commanded the Villepinte terrorist plot as head of the “Foreign Security and Movements Organization,” was placed on the FBI’s wanted list on July 16, 2025.
Reza Amiri Moghaddam is currently serving as the Iranian regime’s ambassador to Pakistan. He played a leading role in the terrorist operation at Villepinte, Paris. He was also one of the three representatives of the clerical regime in negotiations with the United States in Iraq during 2007 and 2008.
The operational commander of the foiled Paris terrorist plot was the Vienna-based diplomat Assadollah Assadi, the station chief for the MOIS network in Europe, operating under cover as the third secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Vienna.
Names of Senior Intelligence Ministry Directors, Including 14 MOIS Directorates
Organizational Chart of Several Key MOIS Agencies
Qassem Soleimani Headquarters
The MEK has obtained new and comprehensive information inside Iran regarding the command structure of the regime’s overseas terrorist operations. According to these reports, the coordination of the regime’s terrorist operations in Europe and the United States is overseen by an entity within the Ministry of Intelligence, headed by the Deputy Minister of Intelligence. This HQ has been named after Qassem Soleimani.
Seyyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki currently serves as Deputy Minister of Intelligence, at the head of a terrorist operations command center, “Qassem Soleimani Headquarters,” which coordinates terrorist plots abroad between the Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and the IRGC Quds Force.
The FBI, in a notice seeking information published on May 26, 2025, regarding Seyyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki (aka Seyyed Yahya Hamidi), described him as the commander of a terrorist plot in the United States from December 2020 to March 2021, which he carried out in cooperation with the criminal network led by Naji Sharifi Zindashti. (According to an FBI notice, Seyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki’s position in the Ministry of Intelligence is listed as Deputy for Internal Security. However, an internal document from the Ministry of Intelligence indicates that he held the position of Deputy for Counterterrorism within the organization. A similar discrepancy exists regarding Saeed Hashemi Moghaddam, as announced by the European Union.)
The “Naji Sharifi Zindashti” criminal network is an international narcotics syndicate that, at the behest of the regime, also carries out acts of terrorism.
The Zindashti network is connected to Unit 840 of the IRGC Quds Force, which oversees the Quds Force’s extraterritorial terrorist operations. Unit 840 employs criminal narcotics networks, including the macro-mafia, for its terrorist plots.
Those arrested in the Vidal-Quadras case—including Mehraz Ayari and his brother Larby Ayari, Shahin Kadid, and Sami Bekal—were members of the macro-mafia network recruited for this plot. The macro-mafia maintains close ties with the IRGC Quds Force. One of the macro-mafia’s leaders, Taghi Rezvan, currently imprisoned in the Netherlands for multiple murders, had close connections to Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force killed by the U.S. in January 2020.
According to Albanian police reports, Unit 840 of the IRGC Quds Force orchestrated a terrorist plot against the MEK’s headquarters in Tirana in March 2018, which was foiled by Albanian police and reported in the Albanian press. Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, who at the time was the regime’s ambassador to Albania and previously served as Deputy for International Affairs in the Foreign Intelligence Directorate, was expelled from Albania as a result. On July 16, 2025, his name was also placed on the FBI’s wanted list for information.
Gholamhossein Mohammadnia was a regular member of the clerical regime’s negotiation team with Western countries during the JCPOA talks.
Conclusions
The Iranian Resistance has been able to expose a comprehensive picture of the structure and organs involved in the regime’s extraterritorial terrorism and has uncovered new networks established by the regime.
Ali Khamenei, as the Supreme Leader of the clerical dictatorship and the highest religious authority, is regarded as the final authority and decision-maker in all of these cases of terrorism, since the early days of the rule of clerics in Iran.
This expanding terrorist network is designed to compensate for the regime’s deep vulnerability inside Iran and the severe weakening of its proxy forces in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region.
Some Essential Measures to Counter the Regime’s Terrorism
- All embassies, diplomatic missions, and affiliated cultural and religious centers of the regime must be closed.
- The Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which are the regime’s main terrorist arms, should be designated as terrorist entities in Europe and other democratic countries, as has already been done in the United States.
- All agents and operatives of the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC, as well as the regime’s unofficial lobbyists, should be prosecuted, punished, and expelled. These lobbies facilitate terrorist activities.
- The Iranian regime must be held accountable for over four decades of terrorism. United Nations sanctions and those of member states should be imposed on the Iranian regime as the principal state sponsor of terrorism, and its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.