The Islamic Republic of Iran’s use of criminal intermediaries for extraterritorial assassinations and covert violence : a gray zone strategy of outsourced repression
Khoshnood, Ardavan M. LU
(2025)
In Small Wars and Insurgencies
p.1-29
- Abstract
The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has employed assassinations and proxy violence as tools of statecraft. Dissidents in exile have been killed, targeted, or systematically threatened, while Israeli-linked entities across Europe have faced repeated attacks. In recent years, Tehran has increasingly outsourced these operations to state-linked criminal intermediaries. This paper analyzes Iran’s approach through the lens of Gray Zone Strategy, showing how criminal outsourcing extends Tehran’s reach, preserves deniability, and enables coercion below the threshold of open conflict. These hybrid tactics blur the boundaries between organized crime, terrorism, and state repression–posing urgent challenges for Western legal, intelligence, and... (More)
The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has employed assassinations and proxy violence as tools of statecraft. Dissidents in exile have been killed, targeted, or systematically threatened, while Israeli-linked entities across Europe have faced repeated attacks. In recent years, Tehran has increasingly outsourced these operations to state-linked criminal intermediaries. This paper analyzes Iran’s approach through the lens of Gray Zone Strategy, showing how criminal outsourcing extends Tehran’s reach, preserves deniability, and enables coercion below the threshold of open conflict. These hybrid tactics blur the boundaries between organized crime, terrorism, and state repression–posing urgent challenges for Western legal, intelligence, and security frameworks.
(Less)
- author
- Khoshnood, Ardavan M.
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- assassination, counterintelligence, criminal gangs, criminal intermediaries, gray zone strategy, Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, terrorism
- in
- Small Wars and Insurgencies
- pages
- 1 - 29
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105015164810
- ISSN
- 0959-2318
- DOI
- 10.1080/09592318.2025.2555583
- project
- The Intelligence Apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- id
- 38f3f2d2-6bab-4e10-be8c-4b7e9eea768f
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-14 03:58:46
- date last changed
- 2025-10-14 08:52:52
@article{38f3f2d2-6bab-4e10-be8c-4b7e9eea768f,
abstract = {{<p>The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has employed assassinations and proxy violence as tools of statecraft. Dissidents in exile have been killed, targeted, or systematically threatened, while Israeli-linked entities across Europe have faced repeated attacks. In recent years, Tehran has increasingly outsourced these operations to state-linked criminal intermediaries. This paper analyzes Iran’s approach through the lens of Gray Zone Strategy, showing how criminal outsourcing extends Tehran’s reach, preserves deniability, and enables coercion below the threshold of open conflict. These hybrid tactics blur the boundaries between organized crime, terrorism, and state repression–posing urgent challenges for Western legal, intelligence, and security frameworks.</p>}},
author = {{Khoshnood, Ardavan M.}},
issn = {{0959-2318}},
keywords = {{assassination; counterintelligence; criminal gangs; criminal intermediaries; gray zone strategy; Iran; Islamic Republic of Iran; terrorism}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{1--29}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{Small Wars and Insurgencies}},
title = {{The Islamic Republic of Iran’s use of criminal intermediaries for extraterritorial assassinations and covert violence : a gray zone strategy of outsourced repression}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2025.2555583}},
doi = {{10.1080/09592318.2025.2555583}},
year = {{2025}},
}