Why U.S. Officials Are Scrambling to Thwart Iran's Bold New Spy Network

Front companies, campus networks, diaspora recruits; Tehran’s espionage push on U.S. soil is bigger, bolder, and harder to track than many realize.

On July 31, a coalition of Western governments led by the United States publicly warned of a wave of Iranian intelligence activity they said was aimed at “killing, kidnapping, and harassing” dissidents, journalists and officials across Europe and North America. The unusually blunt joint statement, signed by Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and more, said Iranian services were increasingly collaborating with criminal networks and called for coordinated defenses.

That diplomatic alarm was echoed in criminal courts and federal filings in recent months. In Oslo over the summer, prosecutors put a former security guard at the U.S. Embassy on trial after accusing him of offering building floor plans and security routines to both Russian and Iranian operatives in return for euros and cryptocurrency; an example of how even low-level hostile services can monetize perimeter jobs.