22 Countries Warn Iran: “Immediately Stop Attacks and Extraterritorial Operations”

In an unprecedented move, 22 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, and Australia, issued a joint statement condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran for what they called “hostile actions and extraterritorial operations against individuals on the soil of other countries,” and demanded the immediate cessation of such actions.

In the statement, published on Thursday, June 11, the Islamic Republic’s security services were accused of using local and international criminal networks to carry out assassination plots, kidnappings, intimidation, and harassment against dissidents, journalists, and citizens in Europe, North America, and Oceania.

The signatories emphasized that attempts to kill, abduct, or threaten individuals on foreign soil constitute violations of national sovereignty and international law and must “cease immediately.”

The countries also held the IRGC Intelligence Organization and the Quds Force responsible for some of the operations and attacks against opponents of the Islamic Republic, Iranian journalists, and Jewish and Israeli communities and interests abroad.

Another section of the statement accused the Islamic Republic of covertly backing a series of attacks against Jewish centers and citizens in Europe, some of which were claimed by a group calling itself “Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya.” These include incendiary attacks on synagogues and Jewish sites in the United Kingdom, as well as a bladed-weapon attack on two Jewish citizens in North London.

The warning comes after Australia previously accused the Islamic Republic of involvement in several antisemitic attacks, including the arson of a synagogue in Melbourne and a kosher café in Sydney. Following those accusations, Canberra expelled the Islamic Republic’s ambassador and suspended consular activities at its embassy in Tehran.

The signatory countries concluded by stressing that they would remain “united” in the face of these threats and called on the Islamic Republic to immediately end what they described as “destabilizing and dangerous behavior.”

The signatories are: the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Albania, and North Macedonia.