Iran planning to assassinate diaspora Jews if Israel attacks
Tehran has identified a significant number of diaspora Jews worldwide to assassinate in the event of a war with Israel, a French journalist specializing in Iranian affairs has warned.
Catherine Perez-Shakdam — who has met both Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi, and has contributed to pro-Tehran media outlets — told the Jewish Chronicle she had learned that Iran had “mapped” a significant number of Jews to be targeted in the event of it being attacked by Israel.
She said she learned of the plans having accessed a meeting through filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh, who was sanctioned by the US for his ties to Tehran.
Talebzadeh, who died in April last year, was a member of the organization New Horizon, which set up events supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It was at one such event that Perez-Shakdam said she learned of the plot to “identify all the prominent NGOs run by Jews, who was doing what in each business sector, the important rabbis.”
The IRGC “wanted to figure out their influence and where they lived with their families in order to target them,” she said, adding that the attendees did not know she was Jewish.
The IRGC has frequently been accused of trying to assassinate opponents, including foreign nationals on other countries’ soil.
In November last year, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said Iran had “ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime,” adding that British intelligence had stopped at least 10 attempts in 2022.
She said she learned of the plans having accessed a meeting through filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh, who was sanctioned by the US for his ties to Tehran.
Talebzadeh, who died in April last year, was a member of the organization New Horizon, which set up events supporting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It was at one such event that Perez-Shakdam said she learned of the plot to “identify all the prominent NGOs run by Jews, who was doing what in each business sector, the important rabbis.”
The IRGC “wanted to figure out their influence and where they lived with their families in order to target them,” she said, adding that the attendees did not know she was Jewish.
The IRGC has frequently been accused of trying to assassinate opponents, including foreign nationals on other countries’ soil.
In November last year, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said Iran had “ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime,” adding that British intelligence had stopped at least 10 attempts in 2022.
